Pubdate: Fri, 14 Feb 2014
Source: Nelson Star (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Black Press
Contact:  http://www.bclocalnews.com/kootenay_rockies/nelsonstar/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4866
Author: Tom Fletcher

PRESCRIPTION POT PRETENSE ENDING

VICTORIA - On April 1, medical marijuana growing licences expire 
across the country, and only licensed commercial growers will be able 
to legally fill a prescription for pot.

Ottawa is moving to clean up the mess it created by issuing medical 
licences all over the country. Since then, municipalities have 
complained that small-scale medical licences have been greatly 
exceeded, with many used as fronts for a criminal drug trade that has 
made B.C. infamous around the world.

How big is the problem? There are about 38,000 Canadians licensed to 
carry marijuana for medical purposes, and half of them live in B.C. 
Their permission to grow their own or buy it from designated 
small-scale growers is withdrawn in a couple of months.

Here's a look at the community level. Police in the Fraser Valley 
suburb of Maple Ridge estimate that it alone has 500 properties 
licensed to grow pot. No, Maple Ridge is not a world hotspot for 
glaucoma or arthritis. It is historically known for its secluded 
properties and as a base for B.C.'s prison system and the province's 
Hells Angels.

Police have only an estimate because Ottawa's bungled medical pot 
scheme conceals the location of licensed growers from provincial and 
local governments.

RCMP Insp. Dave Fleugel told Maple Ridge council last week that his 
detachment will first target medical growers they know are linked to 
organized crime. But it's difficult to determine which are legal and 
which are not.

"This has the potential to cripple the courts," Fleugel said. 
"Something is going to have to take a back seat if we are going to go 
after all of them."

The police and fire department have proposed an amnesty or grace 
period, allowing people to disclose their location and have it 
properly dismantled without penalty, to help deal with the volume.

This mess was created by Ottawa in response to a court ruling that 
forced them to make medical pot available. The Harper government 
remains trapped in a failed war-on-drugs mentality that prevents any 
innovation or even common sense.

Then there is the circus in Vancouver, where self-styled princes of 
pot exploit the confusion of the medical marijuana law to run an 
Amsterdam-style retail trade.

Cannabis Culture, the pot and propaganda empire built by Marc Emery 
before he was jailed in the U.S., rants about the government's "war 
on patients," amid garish ads for "pot by post" and exotic weed varieties.

"By Health Canada's own estimate, the cost will increase from $5 per 
gram to $8.80 per gram - going up by nearly 400 per cent," its 
website warns. Apparently smoking lots of weed really is bad for your 
math skills.

Dana Larsen, who spearheaded the ill-conceived and failed 
decriminalization petition last year, heads up the serious-looking 
"Medical Cannabis Dispensary." It has done so well at its location in 
the drug bazaar of East Hastings Street that it's got a branch office 
in downtown Vancouver.

Its official-looking forms have a long list of conditions where only 
a confirmation of diagnosis is required. In addition to genuine 
conditions such as side effects of chemotherapy, it includes anxiety, 
psoriasis, spinal cord injury and even "substance addictions/withdrawal."

And did you know you can get a vet's note to buy medical pot for your pet?

Larsen has boasted about the exotic offerings of his stores, 
including "watermelon hash oil" at $150 for 2.5 grams. Wow man, 
that's like 400 million per cent higher!

Fittingly, this farce goes back underground on April Fool's Day. 
Medical users can only order shipments from an approved commercial producer.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom