Pubdate: Thu, 16 Jun 2016
Source: Alberni Valley News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Alberni Valley News
Contact:  http://www.albernivalleynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4247
Author: Karly Blats

BUDDING NEW BUSINESS SPROUTS IN VALLEY

The Alberni Valley is home to a second licensed medical marijuana 
dispensary that officially opened its doors for business on June 1.

Leaf Compassion Cannabis Dispensary, located at 5069 Johnston Rd, 
aims to provide safe access to medical grade, laboratory tested 
cannabis products.

The Alberni location is the fifth Leaf Compassion facility on 
Vancouver Island to open, with two others in Victoria, one in Salt 
Spring and a shop in Chemainus.

Kyle Cheyne, founder and executive director of Leaf Compassion, said 
the dispensary went through four thorough inspections from the Port 
Alberni Fire chief and the city planner prior to opening.

"It wasn't as easy as we thought it was going to be, we needed to 
make sure everything was up to code," Cheyne said. "We've been 
following every regulation coming out of Colorado."

All of the marijuana that the dispensary obtains is sent to a lab for 
testing prior to hitting the shop's shelves.

"The whole lab testing is the most important part about getting 
marijuana and we test everything," Cheyne said.

The biggest argument from marijuana skeptics Cheyne hears is that 
dispensaries don't know what is in their products and that it could 
hurt people.

"We know exactly what's in it." Cheyne said. "There's really no abuse 
that can happen from cannabis because you can't die from it."

The bud shop offers a variety of cannabis products including edibles, 
bath products, candies, balms, oils and medical grade marijuana.

Cheyne said in the first four days of opening he signed up roughly 50 
people for medical marijuana memberships. Members aren't required to 
have a doctor's prescription to obtain medical marijuana but Cheyne 
says they are subject to a screening process.

"Eighty per cent of the people that are coming in to all of the 
dispensaries right now is mainly because they want to get off their 
prescriptions...when you get off you can use cannabis," Cheyne said. 
"At the end of the day if you're taking prescriptions that interact 
with medical marijuana then we can't sign you up unless you talk to a 
doctor first."

Cheyne became involved in the marijuana business several years ago 
when he began working at a marijuana dispensary putting in more than 
70 hours a week.

"When I got involved with cannabis I wanted to learn everything about 
it," Cheyne said. Competing in mixed martial arts for seven years, 
Cheyne said his body became stressed, especially his spine. He began 
using cannabis products to medicate his body from years of physical damage.

"I use the balms every night before bed on my spine, I smoke, I do 
dabs... I do it for the back pain mostly," Cheyne said.

In addition to the physical relief that marijuana provides Cheyne, 
the product also offers him mental well-being for post-traumatic stress.

"Cannabis is amazing for [PTSD] because when those flashbacks come 
back to you it's okay with cannabis," Cheyne said. "I've never taken 
anything in my life that's completely eliminated that and now I'm 
focused and I know what I want and I'm happy.

For more information on Leaf Compassion, their products and 
memberships visit leafcompassion.com
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom