Pubdate: Sat, 27 Jul 2013
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2013 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Shaamini  Yogaretnam

MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOP SUDDENLY CLOSES

Police Were Investigating Outlet Within Days of Opening on July 2

Operators of a controversial medical marijuana store on Somerset 
Street have closed up shop amid an Ottawa police investigation into 
whether they were operating legally.

Police said Friday The Greater Ottawa Health Advocacy Centre has been 
vacated. Officers from the drug unit went to visit the shop early in 
the week when they saw that it had been closed.

"We're really going to change the face of Chinatown. There's going to 
be a whole lot more smiling faces here," the store's owner Ryan Levis 
told the Citizen in early July.

The store, the first of its kind in Ottawa and operating as a 
non-profit, opened on July 2 and was quickly encircled in controversy 
for its lax practices around regulations imposed by Health Canada.

Under federal legal provisions, people requiring marijuana for 
medical purposes need to apply for a Health Canada-issued 
Authorization-to-Possess card or have a declaration signed by their 
medical doctor.

The Ottawa police drug unit began an investigation into whether the 
business was operating legally after Levis publicly said that he 
would not deny marijuana to anyone even if they didn't have the 
proper paperwork to access it.

"I don't believe in turning people away," Levis, who considers 
himself a "community health advocate," told the Citizen.

Levis also told the Citizen that he had applied for a licence to 
operate but the Health Canada website showed that none had been 
approved even though the shop was already distributing the drug.

"The information we received was that they were selling marijuana to 
people who did not have medical exemptions and that it was also 
believed they were doing so without a licence to sell," said Staff 
Sgt. Mike Laviolette of the Ottawa police drug section.

Laviolette couldn't discuss details of the police exchange with the 
operators or details relating to their investigating techniques.

But, he did say that, at this point, the investigation is over since 
it's believed the operators have gone back to British Columbia.

"Everything will just get shelved," Laviolette said. "It's pointless 
to expend resources on something that doesn't exist anymore.

"We will keep an eye on things in terms of players and maintain 
contact with our (policing) partners out on the west coast."

In June, Health Canada began its transition from a system of allowing 
users to grow their own marijuana to licensing producers to do so and 
then distribute it. The switch will take until March 2014 to complete.

It's a move that Laviolette thinks will translate into more 
business-savvy people opting to go the route of distributing medical marijuana.

Levis, who left Ottawa for additional training after the controversy 
began, remained the store's owner.

The Citizen tried to reach Levis Friday and his phone number was no 
longer in service.
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