Pubdate: Fri, 06 Jul 2012
Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/5NyOACet
Website: http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531
Author: Jon Manchester

END THE FREE FOR ALL

It's shocking that of the 15,000 Canadians licensed to grow medical
marijuana, not a single one has been inspected.

So it comes as no surprise that police chiefs across the country are
concerned about organized crime involvement in medicinal pot.

A 2010 report for the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police found
more than one-third of studied cases involved trafficking or the
production of more plants than permitted.

The complete failure to manage this growing area of medicine is proof
that neither Health Canada nor individual Canadians should be in the
business of growing dope.

It's a free for all that's far too easy for criminal gangs to take
advantage of.

Health Canada has only 15 inspectors responsible for enforcing safety
and compliance of all legal drugs and pharmaceuticals in the country.

Do you really think they're going to get around to every basement
grow-op, legitimate or otherwise?

The agency even admits it "has no real enforcement capacity, and our
authority for suspension and revocation is very limited and rarely
used."

Either Health Canada needs to be given the staff - and its regulations
given the teeth - to enforce its own rules, or government should get
completely out of the game.

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq is looking to reform medical marijuana
production by having it produced by companies in a tightly regulated,
industrial manner, just like every other legal drug.

Doing so would go a long way toward cutting the gangs out of the
marijuana picture. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D