City politicians, never shy about demanding more money from beleaguered taxpayers, are now trying to get a cut of future cannabis taxes. In last year's Liberal election platform, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to legalize marijuana, touting a "new system of strict marijuana sales and distribution, with appropriate federal and provincial excise taxes applied." By leaving out the possibility of city taxes, Trudeau raised the hackles of spend-crazy mayors across the nation. Now the mayors are pushing back-they want a piece of the green. [continues 582 words]
Where proponents of a medical marijuana dispensary see an act of civil disobedience in defiance of unjust laws, Chilliwack city council members simply see illegal activity. And they say "no." The WeeMedical Dispensary Society opened its doors on Fifth Avenue on March 19, but even before that they were warned by city lawyers about what they were doing wrong. Two openings, two police raids and $44,000 in fines later, the woman behind the operation is still defiant. "This is quite disappointing but I'm not really shocked," society director May Joan Liu said Tuesday outside city hall. [continues 666 words]
They just won't go away. Those behind Chilliwack's first medical marijuana dispensary-which opened on March 19, was fined by city hall from day one, shuttered by police on April 5, reopened April 15, and then raided again April 18-are coming to city council on Tuesday. And WeeMedical Dispensary located on Fifth Avenue planned to open its doors as of 11 a.m. on Thursday, staying open until the council meeting on May 3 at 3 p.m., not to sell cannabis products, but to provide information about the society's other dispensaries in the Lower Mainland, and take signatures on a petition. [continues 345 words]
Selling dried marijuana and other cannabis products for medical purposes at a storefront dispensary is, according to the letter of the law, illegal. On the other hand, says a local and nationally known legal expert on the subject, not providing "reasonable access" to medical marijuana for patients violates Charter rights. In the wake of the second crackdown on Chilliwack's only medical marijuana dispensary just three days after reopening, (10 days after the first crackdown), which itself was 18 days into operation, these are some of the questions being addressed. [continues 835 words]
Just 18 days after opening its doors, Chilliwack's first medical marijuana dispensary is shuttered, raided by police Tuesday evening. Even before it opened on March 19, WeeMedical Dispensary was warned by City of Chilliwack lawyers it was violating business licence and zoning bylaws. Fines of $1,000 a day were levied to the society behind the dispensary, and $500 a day each to the building's two owners. And at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the store was raided by RCMP officers, manager Shayli Vere was arrested and brought to cells. [continues 407 words]
Kate Beaupre may not be who a lot of people picture when they imagine a medical marijuana user. In fact, the 63-year-old cancer survivor who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and ulcers hasn't tried smoking marijuana since her late 20s, and she's never tried ingesting it. And while it's now closed, just 18 days after opening, Beaupre was happy to see Chilliwack's first medical marijuana dispensary so she could try something other than pharmaceuticals to ease her pain. [continues 712 words]
Our page one stories today about a medical marijuana dispensary opening up in Chilliwack are illustrative of the jurisdictional pickle that municipalities are often put in when other levels of government shirk or postpone their responsibilities. Federal policy in many areas is felt on the ground, and dealt with on the streets in cities and towns by municipal staff, and by mayors and councillors, the latter of whom are mostly part-time elected officials. If, for example, Indigenous & Northern Affairs Canada allows a housing development on the Soowahlie reserve in the face of band opposition, expect an increase in vehicles to Cultus Lake, and city hall will get blamed for traffic jams on Vedder Road in the summer. [continues 100 words]
Chilliwack's new medical marijuana dispensary is welcomed by patients .. but not city hall Those behind a new marijuana dispensary just open in Chilliwack say they have been overwhelmed with support and encouragement from the general public. From city hall, however, not so much. WeeMedical Dispensary held its grand opening on Saturday, the latest of about half a dozen similar shops run by a society based in Vancouver. "People are so thankful we are here," manager Shayli Vere told the Times during a visit to the tidy, sparse shop on Fifth Avenue a day before they opened. [continues 611 words]
Chilliwack is just the latest community to face the legal and jurisdictional morass of medical marijuana dispensaries. Abbotsford has been dealing with the issue for months, and is currently seeking an injunction to shut down a pot shop and ban the owner from the city. Don Briere owns over a dozen dispensaries in B.C. and Ontario, was denied a business licence by the city of Abbotsford. The city won an injunction in B.C. Supreme Court in January which a judge said Briere's Weeds Glass and Gifts store violated city bylaws. [continues 432 words]
Though it was an election promise, Justin Trudeau's Liberals aren't going to be able to legalize marijuana overnight. In fact, the legalization of pot might take longer than the four years they are guaranteed before the next federal election in Oct. 2019. Undoubtedly, the federal government would like to get started on this promise, since it's worth millions of tax dollars every year. But when you consider what they already have on their plate, what with ISIS, Syrian refugees, assisted dying and, oh yes, the economy, it's understandable that legalizing pot might not be the top item on the Liberals to-do list. [continues 113 words]
Let the game of crack shack whack-a-mole begin. After a police bust of a well-known drug house next to Chilliwack secondary school last week, residents breathed a sigh of relief. And as arrests were made, other junkies and dealers-who tormented the area for years-cursed and gestured rudely at neighbours who watched them scurry away like cockroaches when the lights come on. The issue of the so-called crack shack in a neighbourhood is not exclusive to downtown Chilliwack. This is a problem in every city to varying degrees. [continues 694 words]
Federal changes to the medical marijuana program should address the City of Chilliwack's concern with the program that currently sees grow-ops in homes and in commercial areas. Many municipalities have long hoped changes coming April 1, 2014 would, among other things, take marijuana growing out of residential areas. On June 10, the federal government announced the new Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) and from what he has seen, Coun. Chuck Stam said he is pleased. "It will address most of our concerns," Stam told city council last week. [continues 360 words]
Improved needle exchange Chilliwack's mobile needle exchange van just got a serious upgrade. What was for nearly six years a needle exchange program operated out of a Dodge mini-van, is now a mini-clinic for homeless and drug-addicted people in a 22-foot, custom-renovated Ford bus. "This is a tremendous step toward improving what was already a very successful program," said city councillor Stewart McLean, co-chair of the Chilliwack Healthier Community Stewardship Council (HCSC). "To put this kind of resource on the street, where it can reach so many of our marginalized residents, is exactly the kind of initiative we want in Chilliwack." [continues 319 words]
Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon MP Mark Strahl addressed local concerns over the growing of medical marijuana last week in Parliament. Strahl referenced one specific medical marijuana grower in a rural area of Chilliwack that was reported on by the Times in February. "Mr. Speaker, I recently met with a number of families who are concerned by a large marijuana grow operation that has sprung up in their neighbourhood," Strahl said in the House of Commons on April 25. "Shockingly, this massive grow op is considered a legal grow under the Medical Marihuana Access Program regulations set up by a previous Liberal government." [continues 187 words]
Doug Hewer tends to his garden with the loving care of a dedicated horticulturalist. That's because the 61-year-old's plants are his medicine and after decades of being criminalized for using marijuana, then a few years of it being legal, he can't believe the federal government plans to end his legal ability to grow in his home. "The fact that they can't kick my door down, rob me of everything, make me spend all my extra money on a lawyer, it's been a bonus and to take it away now is ripping the rug out from under me," Hewer told the Times in an interview. [continues 862 words]
News that Chilliwack RCMP busted a medical marijuana licence-holder producing 15 times more than allowed for by Health Canada is surprising. Not surprising it was happening. Surprising someone got caught. Those in the know who actually witness what really goes on in basements and outbuildings under the auspices of the federal government's medical marijuana access regulations (MMAR) know that many, many licence holders grow more than they are allowed. Exorbitant hydro bills alone mean many (mostly) legal growers attempting to (mostly) follow the rules have to grow a little (or a lot) extra to pay the bills. [continues 190 words]
Editor: My civil and constitutional rights have been compromised by DPPL licences handed out by Health Canada with no regard to my rights to my health, security, and protection of my assets. Health Canada has issued three DPPL licences allowing a "contractor" to operate a growing medical marijuana business for profit next door in a R1-A zoned neighbourhood. Health Canada issued these licences despite the fact they contradict multiple Chilliwack zoning and business bylaws as well as the National Building Code of Canada standards, electrical inspections and B.C. fire codes. We have lost: [continues 142 words]
It's a question of where legal medicinal pot growing should take place Since there are 590 legal medical marijuana growers in Chilliwack and Health Canada has no rules that stipulate where pot should be grown, cannabis production takes place in commercial buildings, residential basements and agricultural outbuildings. On one rural road in Chilliwack, neighbours of a suspicious medical marijuana grow operation have had concerns for years. The property has an alarmed security fence, a large dog and fans that run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, inside outbuildings so large they dwarf the neighbouring single-family homes. [continues 983 words]
Running a Business Next to a Legal Marijuana Grow Op Most of the names in this story have been changed or omitted so as not to identify the location of the medicinal marijuana grow operations in question. Kim and John Smith are used to strange looks from sniffing customers at their Chilliwack business. On a recent visit by the Times, John walked from the small storefront office to the back of his 2,000-square-foot operation. He turned on an industrial fan needed for his work. Within minutes the room filled with the unmistakable smell of marijuana. [continues 971 words]
Number of Medical Marijuana Production Licences Issued in Chilliwack Has Tripled in One Year A year after reporting that Chilliwack residents were three more times likely than average British Columbians to be licensed medical marijuana growers, the Times has learned the number has tripled. According to figures obtained through an Access to Information request in January 2012, 238 Chilliwack residents were licensed to possess marijuana for medical reasons and 193 were licensed to produce marijuana for medical purposes. There were 4,608 licensed users and 3,831 licensed growers in all of British Columbia 13 months ago. That translated to about 85 growers and 102 users per 100,000 people. But Chilliwack had about 280 growers and 344 users per 100,000 residents. [continues 615 words]
