Pubdate: Fri, 17 Aug 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: Ron Seymour

ADVOCATE SUPPORTS RESIDENTIAL BAN ON DESIGNATED POT GROWERS

An advocate for medical marijuana users offers qualified support for
MP Ron Cannan's idea of changing the way people can legally get their
pot.

People who grow their own marijuana in their home for their personal
use should always be able to do so, said Don Schultz of Greenline Academy.

"I would hate to see people lose the right they have to grow their own
medicine," Schultz said Thursday. "And there'd probably be a lot of
lawsuits coming forward if the government tried to take away that right."

But so-called designated growers - those who can grow enough pot for
up to four people with medical marijuana licences - should no longer
be allowed in residential

areas, Schultz said.

"They should be moved into commercial, industrial, or agricultural
areas," Schultz said. "With the larger volumes of the plants do come
questions of security."

Police say the larger, legally-permitted grow-ops can become targets
of home invasions.

And they say the current regulatory system does not provide them with
timely, accurate information on the location of legal grow-ops.

"It's very difficult for the police to find out where the medicinal
marijuana grow-ops are," said Cannan, Conservative MP for Kelowna-Lake
Country. "There should be better co-ordination between the RCMP and
health authorities."

After meeting with a number of community leaders and representatives
of social service agencies on Wednesday, Cannan said he'd like to see
current rules changed so no legal grow-ops could be maintained in
residential areas.

Those with medical marijuana licences should obtain their pot from
central, government controlled distribution points, Cannan said.

That is one option currently available to users, but it's not one
favoured by most of those who have medical marijuana licences, Shultz
said.

Pot grown under government supervision is "terrible," he said, and
most users much prefer to grow their own or buy it from designated
growers.

For the past year, Health Canada has been holding meetings to discuss
possible changes to the way medical marijuana is made available to
those with a licence to use it. Based in Kelowna, Schultz's firm puts
on seminars across the country advising people on all aspects of the
medical marijuana industry.
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MAP posted-by: Matt