Pubdate: Thu, 14 Feb 2013 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2013 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Kim Bolan B.C. LICENSES MOST GROWERS, USERS Police Grapple With Production Surge Under Current System, Which Is ' Open to Abuse' The total number of medical marijuana possession and production licences in B. C. almost tripled in 2012, to 24,963 from 9,097, Health Canada statistics show. B. C. now has more licensed medical marijuana users and growers than any other Canadian province, with B. C. residents holding more than half of Canadian licences. By Dec. 31, there were 13,362 licences to possess medical pot issued to B. C. residents, up from just 4,928 on Jan. 31, 2012. Health Canada more than tripled the number of licences provided to B. C. residents to grow their own medical marijuana to a total of 9,369 at the end of the year, from 2,987 just 11 months earlier. The number of licences handed to people designated to grow medical marijuana for others almost doubled. While the federal government has announced changes to how medical marijuana will be produced starting in 2014, police agencies in B. C. are still dealing with issues arising from legal marijuana growing operations. On Tuesday, Abbotsford police raided a marijuana grow operation that had more than eight times the number of plants it was entitled to grow under a medical marijuana licence. Const. Ian MacDonald said officers from the APD Drug Enforcement Unit and Emergency Response Team had prepared a warrant for the house in northwest Abbotsford without knowing there was a medical marijuana licence. He said police had asked Health Canada twice about the property in question but got no confirmation about whether there was a pot production licence on the premises. "As a result, the warrant was executed and a marijuana grow operation and male were located on the property," MacDonald said. "A total of 295 marijuana plants were found on site. Through discussions with the man and Health Canada, it was determined that a recent licence had been granted for the production of 35 plants." MacDonald said police seized the extra 260 plants. "He said the 35 plants weren't budding as much as he expected," MacDonald said of the man's explanation for the excess pot. Earlier Tuesday, Abbotsford firefighters and police attended a dangerous fire connected to another Health Canada sanctioned marijuana grow operation. "Twice in a single day, Abbotsford Emergency Services were deployed to deal with issues that appear to fall ultimately under the broader responsibilities of Health Canada and the proper regulation and inspection of licensed marijuana grow operations," MacDonald said. Health Canada spokesman Stephane Shank said Wednesday that the government has already announced reforms to medical marijuana operations over concerns from police, firefighters and mayors across the country. The new rules, which will hand over production to licensed commercial growers, will be fully implemented by April 2014. "We recognize and acknowledge the fact that the current program is open to abuse," Shank said. He said he didn't have information available on the number of Health Canada inspectors in B. C. who monitor marijuana grow operations here. MacDonald said in an interview that the department has found an increasing number of marijuana grow operations under investigation that are later determined to have a Health Canada licence. He said that over the last year to 18 months, investigators have documented that approximately 75 per cent of the marijuana sites that police have come upon have production licences. "That is a huge spike in numbers," MacDonald said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom