Pubdate: Fri, 11 Sep 2015
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Sam Cooper
Page: 4

POT PROFILE GROWS HIGHER IN CAMPAIGN

Confusing Market: Health Canada sends cease-and-desist orders to 13 B.C. 
dispensaries over illegal ads

As the federal government for the first time threatened police action
against some B.C. marijuana dispensaries this week, pot's prominence
in the October federal election is only getting higher, says a B.C.
criminologist.

SFU professor Neil Boyd believes B.C.'s booming pot dispensary sector
is currently competing with Health Canada's "bizarre" medical
marijuana regime and street dealers, in a confusing market roiled by
political and legal crosswinds.

"If we get a Liberal or NDP government, we will get something more
rational," Boyd said.

"The medical-versus-recreational-debate needs to be thought through.
What we have now is bizarre. You have a medical system that is
mail-order delivery, and it doesn't make any sense."

Illegal pot dispensaries have exploded in Vancouver in the past five
years under the banner - or in some cases the guise - of medical
marijuana usage.

The proliferation is due to permissive attitudes adopted by Vancouver
city hall and the police department, Boyd said.

The City of Vancouver basically formalized its pot position this
summer by moving into dispensary regulation.

Vision Vancouver Coun. Kerry Jang says that such regulation is the
city's only concern, and it is up to the businesses themselves to
decide on what terms to sell marijuana.

For months the federal government has vaguely warned Vancouver about
straying into marijuana regulation, without outlining
consequences.

But Health Canada officials confirmed Thursday that this week, for the
first time, cease-and-desist orders were sent to some B.C.
dispensaries, with threats of RCMP raids for non-compliance. Thirteen
pot stores that are illegally advertising weed sales have been warned
that if advertisements are not pulled they could be raided, a Health
Canada spokesman informed The Province in a statement.

While Health Canada regulates the permitted cultivation of medical
marijuana and user access, in Vancouver dispensaries are
self-regulating, issuing member permits with widely varied standards.

A doctor's note will let a customer obtain pot in some stores, a short
consultation with an alternative medicinal professional such as a
naturopath at others, and no documentation at all is needed in some
cases. Reports have shown that permits can be interchanged between
some pot stores.

Nick Whitehead, of the marijuana advocacy group Sensible B.C., said he
believes a Conservative government would maintain its aggressive
stance against B.C.'s pot dispensary sector.

Whitehead said that if the NDP, Liberal or Green parties take power in
October, he believes the federal government will quickly move to
decriminalize marijuana, and eventually move toward regulation and
taxation of the drug.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt