Pubdate: Fri, 03 Jul 2015
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v15/n356/a08.html
Author: Kerry L. Jang
Page: B7

POT SHOP BYLAWS DEFENDED

Response is common-sense approach to federal failure

Re: City's pot bylaw only benefits criminals, Column, June 30

Ian Mulgrew argues that Vancouver should never have moved to regulate 
the explosion of marijuana dispensaries because they, unlike 
legitimate businesses, don't file tax returns with the Canada Revenue Agency.

This perspective entirely misses the point of what the new marijuana 
dispensary bylaws were designed to do: keep marijuana away from 
children and sensitive areas of our city, but at the same time allow 
reasonable access to legitimate medical users who the Supreme Court 
of Canada has twice ruled should have access.

The problem is that the federal government has blocked access to 
legitimate users with their new prohibitionist approach limited to 
mail orders, which resulted in the explosive growth from a few to 
nearly 100 marijuana dispensaries within a year.

The city's bylaws will likely close or move two-thirds of the shops 
as well as provide effective tools that control the number of 
dispensaries, their location and tools to inspect, regulate, and 
enforce medical use.

The City of Vancouver's approach is a common-sense response to the 
absolute failure of the federal government's prohibitionist approach 
to medical marijuana - a point that Mulgrew acknowledges - and it is 
up to the federal government to revise their approach to marijuana 
that would require a tax return to be filed.

Kerry L. Jang Councillor City of Vancouver
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom