Pubdate: Fri, 26 Jun 2015
Source: Metro (Vancouver, CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Metro Canada
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3775
Author: Trish Kelly
Page: 12

EDIBLES WOULD HAVE BEEN TOO MUCH FOR CITY TO CHEW

Vancouver Needs This to Launch Smoothly. No Deaths, No Spike in Overdoses ...

Last week, city council finalized policy to regulate medical 
marijuana dispensaries in Vancouver. Federal Health Minister Rona 
Ambrose says she is outraged. Given her cranky letter to city council 
this spring, we expected her to be miffed. Others are upset because 
the city has said no to the sale of edible pot products in dispensaries.

Given the regulatory vacuum the city has waded into, the city has 
done a decent job of balancing the concerns of police, health 
authorities and neighbourhoods. In regulating the sale of edibles, 
the city would have bitten off more than it could chew.

The federal government has done a poor job of designing the system 
that permits access to medical marijuana, dragging its feet and 
protesting like a toddler at nap time. They make it hard for patients 
to access the drug, and they make it difficult to change cannabis 
providers. Heck, they even spell marijuana with an "h". That's how 
obstinate they are.

Case by case, the court system is broadening the rights of patients 
with a prescription for marijuana. A few weeks ago, the Supreme Court 
struck down the sections of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act 
that prohibits possession and trafficking of non-dried forms of 
cannabis, opening a new door for edibles.

Even if the courts have allowed access to edibles, Vancouver has good 
reasons to avoid the sale of edibles at dispensaries.

St. Paul's Hospital's stats on overdoses found that 76 per cent of 
marijuana overdose cases were related to edibles. Because ingesting 
cannabis doesn't provide an immediate effect, it's more likely 
inexperienced users will think it's not "working" and consume more 
than they intend.

And if makers of edibles are doing their jobs properly, their 
brownies and cookies will be somewhere between palatable and 
delicious, raising concerns for the safety of children, who might get 
into a family members' stash by mistake. Vancouver Coastal Health was 
clear to council that protecting children must be a key to the city's plans.

I do think we need to sort out how to provide edible options, but it 
ought to be solved through federal channels. The city has allowed the 
dispensaries to sell cannabis oils, which addresses the need for 
access to something patients don't have to smoke. The federal 
government should ensure standardized extracts and lozenges are 
available as alternatives to smoking.

Though the city's new regulations are not a pilot, we should think of 
them as such. Without federal or provincial support, we are on 
unsteady ground. And Vancouver needs this to launch smoothly. No 
deaths, no spike in overdoses, nothing the feds can use to justify 
forcing an end to the city's progressive and pioneering efforts.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom