Pubdate: Tue, 17 Feb 2015
Source: Parksville Qualicum Beach News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Black Press
Contact:  http://www.pqbnews.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1361
Author: Candace Wu

NO GREY AREAS IN POT DISPENSARY LAWS: HUNTER

Two pending court cases should clear things up for residents and
police, says chief

Parksville's chief of police Brian Hunter attempted to clear the haze
around medical marijuana in a speech to Parksville and District
Chamber of Commerce members Thursday at The Bayside.

"There's nothing grey out there," Hunter said of medical marijuana
regulations.

However, he admitted "there's a lot of folks, including police
officers, that should know, but don't know what the rules are out
there" because of two looming court cases and legislation currently in
flux.

He said the Marijuana Medical Access Regulation (MMAR) program was
supposed to end April 1, 2014. It would have stopped home-grown pot
production, directing thousands of medical marijuana licencees to
purchase from large-scale facilities approved by Health Canada and
regulated by the government under the new Marijuana for Medical
Purposes Regulations (MMPR) program.

Hunter said the old system didn't work because "there were very
minimal avenues to keep these folks in check, including zero authority
within the police." He said "organized crime grabbed a hold" of lax
regulations and illegal grow operations flourished.

But a last minute court injunction stopped the change, with some
patients claiming it was unfair for existing licence holders to adapt
to a new program. A court decision is expected this month.

"I 100 per cent support people who need marijuana medicine to make
their lives better, 100 per cent, absolutely," said Hunter. "This is
not a 'medical marijuana, does it help me?' situation," he said before
explaining the 2009 Owen Smith pot cookie case.

Smith was charged with possession of a controlled substance for the
purpose of trafficking after police found him with 200 pot-laced
cookies. Smith argued that he was licensed by the government under the
MMAR program.

However, both the MMAR and MMPR programs limit access to marijuana to
dried bud, making cannabis products including creams, salves, oils,
brownies and cookies illegal.

"It's going to be interesting and also important and it kind of makes
sense... Why should it just be dried marijuana if it's medicine?"
Hunter asked.

"Those are two big court cases that I think have to come to fruition
before we see what happens further down the road."

After a long pause, Hunter resumed: "So, under the MMPR how do I get
my marijuana?... You don't go to a dispensary."

He repeated his recent message that "dispensaries, compassion clubs,
pain clubs, heaven is awesome clubs - whatever you want to call it -
the issue with those is there is absolutely no mechanism in law in
Canada, or anywhere, for those to exist."

Hunter pointed to a list of 15 approved Health Canada facilities that
provide medical grade marijuana to licence holders via mail.

He noted critics say these facilities cost more and provide lower
quality pot than dispensaries, but called that a myth.

"There are a lot of myths out there, people talk, you know it's way
more expensive, the quality is horrible... and not having tried it,
I've done a lot of reading and those are myths out there. (Marijuana)
is actually quite often less expensive to get from Health Canada."

Hunter estimates Alberta has two medical marijuana dispensaries,
Manitoba has one, Quebec has four and British Columbia has 95 - 60 in
Vancouver, one in Parksville.
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MAP posted-by: Matt