Pubdate: Fri, 11 Sep 2015
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Gordon Hoekstra
Page: A3

HEALTH CANADA THREATENS POT SHOPS WITH POLICE

Letters Order 13 Dispensaries, Including the B.C. Compassion Club, to 
Suspend Activity

Health Canada has sent out letters to a handful of marijuana 
dispensaries for advertising the sale of pot and called on them to 
immediately suspend all activities.

The 13 targeted dispensaries include at least one operation each in 
Vancouver and Victoria, and another in Saskatchewan, according to 
B.C. Compassion Club Society spokeswoman Jamie Shaw, who is also the 
president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries.

"The sale and advertising of marijuana is illegal ... You are 
encouraging Canadians to engage in conduct that could also expose 
them to criminal liability," said the Health Canada letter received 
by the Compassion Club Wednesday.

It said if the dispensary does not cease all activities with 
controlled substances, Health Canada will contact the RCMP within 30 
days "for enforcement action as they deem necessary."

The dispensary has until Sept. 21 to tell Health Canada they will 
stop advertising and selling pot without a valid licence.

In June, it sent a letter to the Vancouver International Jazz 
Festival that marijuana advertising is illegal after pot ads appeared 
in its program guide.

The pot dispensaries - which have proliferated recently, with more 
than 100 in Vancouver alone - operate outside Canada's licensed 
medical-marijuana system.

That system allows about 20 industrial producers to sell dried 
marijuana to patients by mail.

Shaw said their lawyer is seeking clarity from Health Canada, calling 
the letter confusing.

She said the compassion club, the oldest medical-pot dispensary in 
Canada, operating for nearly 20 years, does not advertise.

Shaw noted they have about 10,000 members, and have had numerous 
discussions with Health Canada in the past.

"We're happy to work on any specific issues or concerns they (Health 
Canada) may have, but we can't abandon patients to a regulatory 
scheme that doesn't serve them," she said Thursday.

In a written response to The Vancouver Sun, Health Canada did not 
name the 13 dispensaries.

"Health Canada will attempt to work co-operatively with all parties 
involved to encourage compliance. If continued non-compliance is 
identified, the department may refer the case to law enforcement 
agencies for appropriate action," said an email from Health Canada 
spokesman Patrick Gaebel.

The letter Wednesday to dispensaries noted that since the passage of 
new laws in November 2014 there are increased fines under the food 
and drugs act: a maximum fine of $5 million or two years in prison, or both.

This June, after the City of Vancouver passed new rules regulating 
marijuana pot shops, Health Minister Rona Ambrose reiterated the 
federal government's position that the shops are illegal, adding: "We 
expect the police to enforce the law."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom