Pubdate: Tue, 28 Apr 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

PHOENIX TO MOVE

Closed in Parksville; Looking at Communities Close By

Phoenix Pain Management Society - Parksville's medical pot dispensary 
that was raided and shut down by Mounties earlier this month - may be 
moving to a neighbouring community.

"We're going to try to be welcomed into a community close by 
Parksville," confirmed the dispensary's managing director Akil Pessoa 
Friday morning from Nanaimo.

While he declined to say what neighbouring community he intends to 
set up shop in, Pessoa offered "we want to make sure everything is 
hammered down, that we've dotted our i's and crossed our t's" before 
making a presentation to a local council.

He said North Nanaimo and locations surrounding Parksville are 
options for the dispensary's new site, noting Parksville isn't out of 
the question either.

This comes after Oceanside RCMP raided Phoenix's dispensary at the 
end of Middleton Avenue April 2, seizing dried marijuana, marijuana 
derivatives and cash.

Police arrested Karl Mitchell, one of the dispensary's volunteer 
staff members, who was later released on a promise to appear in 
Nanaimo Provincial Court.

The building remains empty with a bright red city bylaw notice on the 
front door stating: "this property has been used in respect of the 
manufacture, ingestion, use, sharing, sale, trade, or barter of a 
controlled substance."

Last week, the City of Vancouver made headlines with city staff's 
proposal to enact regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries, of 
which the city has approximately 80.

The regulations would see cannabis retailers pay a $30,000 licensing 
fee, notify the public before opening a store that must be located at 
least 300 metres from schools, community centres and each other.

Pessoa, and many pot activists, have been fighting for the right to 
operate medical marijuana dispensaries despite the fact that they're illegal.

He called Vancouver's proposed regulations "a good thing" but noted 
there are finer details to look into to make the regulations work for 
dispensary operators.

"Like any new regulatory policy all the nuances haven't been thought 
through," said Pessoa. "On the upside there's a regulatory model on 
the table that can be debated and used as a touch point for others - 
these are all extremely good things."

But Parksville Mayor Marc Lefebvre said despite Vancouver's stance, 
he won't be following suit.

"I'll never agree to a dispensary because they aren't allowed to sell 
drugs and that's why the RCMP shut them down," Lefebvre told The 
NEWS. "Right now the law is very clear on that."

Canadian medical marijuana users have had a hazy year.

Under the old rules, the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) 
medical marijuana licence holders were allowed to grow their own pot 
or find designated growers.

Those regulations were to be replaced in April of last year with a 
new program called the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations 
(MMPR), which directs medical pot patients to purchase their cannabis 
from federally-licenced Health Canada approved facilities.

However, a court injunction was granted at the 11th hour keeping the 
MMAR program alive for existing patients after an uproar from licence 
holders who claimed the new rules were unfair.

Advocates are eagerly awaiting a court decision.

Meanwhile, a University of British Columbia (UBC) Cannabis Access 
Regulations study is examining how new federal pot regulations in 
Canada impact a patient's access to medical cannabis.

UBC PhD student Rielle Capler, who is spearheading the study, called 
access to medical marijuana a "complex and contentious" issue.

Capler confirmed "some patients spoke to us of the difficulties they 
were having with legal access" to medical marijuana, a reason many 
turn to dispensaries and likely a cause of the recent proliferation 
of dispensaries in Canada.

"There were a number of patients who participated in our study that 
were using cannabis therapeutically outside of the legal 
regulations," she said. "This doesn't necessarily mean they couldn't 
access it legally - our analysis will shed more light on why they 
were not accessing it under the federal rules."

Capler confirmed the study is in preliminary stages and will be 
complete in a few months.

- - With files from Auren Ruvinsky and Tamsyn Burgmann, The Canadian Press
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom