Pubdate: Mon, 16 Apr 2012
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2012 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Tristin Hopper

B.C. TOWN'S NEW ZONING CATEGORY: GROW OP

By opening up its industrial areas to medical marijuana growers, the 
coastal B.C. community of Sechelt is poised to become the first 
community in Canada cleared for large-scale legal pot farms.

Located two hours northwest of Vancouver, Sechelt first conceived of 
the change after a would-be producer approached councillors with a 
proposal to set up shop in a renovated building in the city's 
industrial quarter.

John Henderson, the city's development-minded Mayor, immediately took 
notice. "We don't care if it's a rocket-launching business or a legal 
medical marijuana growing operation - if somebody approaches us to 
have some zoning bylaws amended we'll look at them carefully," he said.

The proposed zoning change, put before a public hearing in January, 
would allow a medical marijuana grow operation under three 
conditions: the operation must be strictly up to snuff with local 
building codes, it cannot gum up neighbouring streets with increased 
traffic and the facility is forbidden from allowing too much pot 
smell to waft onto neighbouring properties. Health Canada also 
requires that if grown outside, the plants not be located near a 
public playground or school.

The local RCMP have given the plan their full support. "It's the 
District of Sechelt that initiated this, but from a policing 
perspective, when a medical marijuana growing operation is in an 
industrial area, there are fewer risks in terms of illegal entry and 
such," RCMP Sgt. Mike McCarthy told the CBC.

Health Canada restrictions on growing medical marijuana remain quite 
strict. A single grower can grow only enough marijuana for two people 
- - and no more than four growers can work out of the same address, a 
restriction Health Canada says reduces "the risk of diversion." 
Nevertheless, the agency is considering a dramatic change to 
regulations in which private growing licences would be phased out, 
and patients would instead rely on a network of licensed commercial producers.

If the changes take effect, Sechelt could well become a provincial 
hub for legal marijuana grow ops. "It's like anything else; if a 
particular community is amenable to growing medical marijuana, I can 
see people finding that attractive," said Mr. Henderson. The Sunshine 
Coast is already home to Canada's highest concentration of growing 
licences for medical marijuana, fuelled in large part by elderly 
communities beset with cancer, arthritis and other sources of chronic pain.

"I like what Sechelt is doing; putting [medical marijuana operations] 
into a certain area and having some control over it is absolutely the 
way to go," said Dana Larsen, director of the Vancouver Medicinal 
Cannabis Dispensary. "It makes patients safer, it makes growers know 
that they're not going to get raided and it makes it easier for the 
police to differentiate between legal and non-legal grow operations."
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