Pubdate: Thu, 08 Apr 2010
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2010 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/letters.html
Website: http://www.montrealgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author: Rene Bruemmer

COMPASSION AT $10 A GRAM

Pot Shop; Lachine Club Not Aiding Sick, Neighbours Say

A recently opened "compassion centre" in Lachine that purports to 
sell medical marijuana to the ill is sowing discord among neighbours 
and local merchants who say it's attracting hordes of healthy-looking 
young buyers.

"No one going into that place is in need of compassion," said the 
owner of a business on Notre Dame St., around the corner from the 
Culture 420 Compassion Centre on 15th Ave.

"They're running in and running out all the time.

"I wouldn't mind if it was legal, but it's so obvious it's not. I 
mean, really, you have to go upstairs to get in. There isn't even 
wheelchair access."

Merchants complain that buyers loiter in front of their stores, 
deterring customers and taking parking spaces in a part of a borough 
that's already economically depressed.

Using or growing marijuana for certain medical conditions has been 
legal under federal law since 2001, but selling it is not. Compassion 
club operators, however, say having patients go the legal route 
through Health Canada to buy marijuana is difficult and can take 
years, forcing many to suffer needlessly.

"We have something called a duty to provide for people's needs (for 
therapeutic cannabis), and sometimes they're life-sustaining needs," 
Culture 420 co-founder Pavlos Papadakis said yesterday.

A steady stream of young men and the occasional woman flowed in and 
out of the small office of two desks, a computer and a radio softly 
playing heavy metal music this week as phones rang constantly. The 15 
or so volunteers dispensed marijuana and advised customers in both 
official languages how to become members.

The centre says it's a non-profit concern that donates any extra 
funds to charity.

Open nearly three months, it already has 1,000 members. About 200 
people come through a day, Papadakis said, although local merchants 
said the volume is much higher on Fridays and Saturdays, and near the 
end of the month, when welfare cheques arrive

"It got busy really fast," said one storeowner, who, like all the 
merchants interviewed, asked to remain anonymous for fear of 
reprisals. "At least they took the prices out of the window."

To be eligible to buy marijuana, applicants must submit a form signed 
by a doctor attesting they have a condition or symptoms treatable 
with cannabis - for example, pain from AIDS or arthritis. The centre 
calls the doctor to verify, Papadakis said.

The club will also accept a written declaration that the applicant 
suffers from chronic pain as long as it's sworn to and stamped by a 
notary; Papadakis said Culture 420's lawyers have assured club 
operators that makes it legal. The form is available on the club's 
website. Local residents say there's a notary down the street willing 
to sign it.

Business owners and neighbours have started at least two petitions 
calling for the centre's ouster. The owners have tried to meet their 
demands, hiring security to try to keep the streets clear, but 
merchants say it hasn't helped. They discount Papadakis's claim 
Culture 420 is bringing new customers to the area, saying it's a 
clientele not interested in haircuts, pastries or flowers.

Others worry the centre, connected to a pastry shop and near a 
daycare, could be the target of a firebombing by dope dealers who 
don't appreciate competition. Culture 420 sells more than a dozen 
varieties of marijuana - either cultivated onsite or purchased from 
growers - for street-market prices of about $10 a gram.

Co-founder Gary Webber was the victim of a violent break-in at his 
Dorval home in March. His assailants told him they were unhappy he 
was selling in Lachine.

Culture 420 (the number is a popular code word for the cannabis 
subculture) is one of two so-called compassion clubs in Montreal 
operating in a legal grey zone. The other is the Compassion Club of 
Montreal in the Plateau Mont Royal district; it has been open since 
1999 and also has about 1,000 members. It requires medical 
documentation for membership.

In 2002, a Quebec Court judge acquitted its president, Marc-Boris 
St-Maurice, of drug trafficking while he volunteered at the 
Compassion Club, which St-Maurice said meant he could continue to 
provide the drug to suffering patients.

"Compassion clubs are illegal," Health Canada media adviser Stephane 
Shank said in an email. "The only organization that can legally 
supply marijuana seeds and dried marijuana is the government of Canada."

Police will turn a blind eye, however, to establishments seen to be 
providing a legitimate service. But not all. A club in Toronto was 
raided last week after complaints of alleged drug offences.

Lachine borough mayor Claude Dauphin said the borough and the police 
- - whose station is half a block from Culture 420 - are looking at the 
situation "very carefully."

"If it's a matter of compassion, we're in favour of that, but I don't 
think it's a matter of compassion," he said. "I've seen kids between 
15 and 20 years old going in there."

The borough will be issuing tickets because the centre hasn't 
obtained a permit to occupy its current premises, which could also 
lead to a court date. And police will be following up, Dauphin said.

The centre is trying to ease some of the tension by moving to a 
larger building six blocks away, at the corner of Notre Dame St. and 
9th Ave. with parking in back, Papadakis said. He vowed the centre 
would not be closed without a legal fight.

"If they shut us down, 1,000 people who have a medical need would 
have that taken away from them - which means their constitutional 
rights of life, liberty and the spirit of the person would be 
violated, and those rights are much greater than anybody's perceived 
negative effects."

The Culture 420 Compassion Centre's website is www.culture420.com

HOW TO LEGALLY GET MEDICAL MARIJUANA FROM THE GOVERNMENT

A person who wishes to obtain an authorization to possess and/or a 
licence to produce marijuana for medical purposes must apply to 
Health Canada in writing. Once all the requirements of the Medical 
Marijuana Access Regulations are met, including the requirement for 
the signature of a physician, a person will be authorized to possess 
and/or produce dried marijuana for medical purposes.

An authorized person has the following three options for obtaining a 
supply of dried marijuana: accessing Health Canada's supply of dried 
marijuana; obtaining a personal-use production licence to grow for 
himself/herself; or obtaining a designated-person production licence 
that designates another person to cultivate marijuana on their behalf.

As of Jan. 14, 2010, 4869 people hold an authorization to possess 
dried marijuana under the MMAR in Canada.

For more information, visit: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/ marihuana/ Health Canada

Text POT123 to 11-2-11 to save or share this story. Standard text 
messaging rates apply.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart