Pubdate: Fri, 09 Dec 2016
Source: Penticton Western (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Penticton Western
Contact:  http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1310

CAN'T BLOW ASIDE THE ISSUE OF MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

It was a long meeting Tuesday as Penticton city council once again
wrestled with the slippery grey issue of medical marijuana
dispensaries.

The horns of the dilemma are that on one hand, storefront sales of
marijuana, even for medicinal use, are unlawful. On the other hand,
dispensaries are setting up in communities across Canada in advance of
promised legalization, and RCMP are doing little, if anything to
enforce the law.

Instead of adopting a wait and see approach or turning a blind eye to
the problem as other communities have, council chose to decided to
adopt regulations to controlling how the dispensaries operate, but not
what they were selling.

But, when it came to handing out the permits, some councillors balked,
realizing they had no ability to decide whether one person or another
was qualified to dispense marijuana to treat a medical condition
taking on the role of pharmacist and physician.

The decision council came to - giving permits to operations that had
already shown a willingness to respect council directives - was
probably the best choice they could make.

The issue of medical marijuana dispensaries isn't going away anytime
soon. Ignoring it isn't going to make it go away, nor is waiting and
hoping someone else, like the RCMP, will step in and do something.

The wait for legislation is likely to be a long one. A report is being
prepared for the parliament, but developing a policy that covers all
the issues is likely to be a long process, as legislators try to cover
all the issues.

In the meantime, the city had to do something, since some of the
marijuana sellers said they planned to continue no matter what. At
least now the city has the ability to ensure a safe operation, if not
a safe product.
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MAP posted-by: Matt