Pubdate: Thu, 30 Jun 2011 Source: Kingston Whig-Standard (CN ON) Copyright: 2011 Sun Media Contact: http://www.thewhig.com/feedback1/LetterToEditor.aspx Website: http://www.thewhig.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/224 Author: Elliot Ferguson Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) DRUG UNIT CONTINUES MARIJUANA INVESTIGATION Kingston Police continue to investigate some of the people involved in the Kingston compassion club. The facility in the Medical Arts building on Princess Street was closed after police responded to a call to the club last week. Police are considering charges against three people who were at the club when police attended June 19 who they say are not legally permitted to possess marijuana. The three people could have been charged with possession of marijuana, but police are looking into the possibility that there is evidence to support a charge of possession for the purpose of trafficking. Police removed about 825 grams of marijuana from the compassion club. Police returned to the club June 21 with a search warrant and removed computers and patient records. The club had been in operation since late May, providing marijuana to people authorized by Health Canada to possess and use it for medical purposes. On its website, the Kingston Compassion Club states the police seized the marijuana without a warrant and that all of the club's five or six employees face trafficking charges. A compassion club spokes - person last week said employees called police to the facility because the online feed from a video surveillance camera had been interrupted and they believed a break-in was happening. While proponents of compassion clubs argue they operate in a grey area of the law, police say the law is clear about selling cannabis. "Compassion clubs are illegal in the eyes of the law," said Sgt. Mike Boyle of Kingston Police's drug unit. "They like to put a fancy name on it, but the reality is they are trafficking in marijuana." The Kingston compassion club had about 300 registered patients and organizers said they expected eventually to have as many as 2,000. According to Health Canada, people can obtain permission to legally possess and use marijuana under the agency's Medical Marijuana Access Regulations if they suffer severe pain from multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury or disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS infection, severe forms of arthritis or epilepsy. About 10,000 people across Canada are part of the Health Canada program, including about 1,000 registered growers. There are about 50 compassion clubs across Canada. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom