Pubdate: Fri, 17 Jul 2015
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2015 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/send_a_letter
Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Aidan Geary
Page: B3

OWNER PLEDGES TO CONTINUE SELLING POT

Plans to Hold Peaceful Rally at His Shop Next Week

THE owner of the only medical-cannabis dispensary in Manitoba has 
vowed to stay open, despite being told by police to stop selling his 
product. Glenn Price opened Your Medical Cannabis Headquarters at 
1404 Main St. in March and started selling to Winnipeggers July 1. On 
Tuesday, Winnipeg police ordered the store to stop, following a 
service complaint lodged by a group fighting storefront pot sales.

Price doesn't have a licence to sell from Health Canada, meaning his 
operation is illegal. He hasn't sold any cannabis since last Tuesday, 
but said he has been giving some away to his customers. He said he's 
going to resume selling his products on Tuesday, whatever the consequences.

"I'm not going to stop helping people," Price said Thursday, adding, 
"If (police) choose to arrest me, let them."

Pamela McColl of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) lives in 
Vancouver, but contacted the Winnipeg mayor's office and police 
service to file the complaint about Price's store on Tuesday. SAM is 
a national organization opposing the legalization of marijuana and 
the stores that sell it. Although Price only sells to 
prescription-holding adults, McColl said she's concerned cannabis 
will be sold to kids by his customers, and stores such as his will 
normalize marijuana use in the eyes of youth.

"If you get it early, you can control the advance of these 
dispensaries," McColl said. In Vancouver, there are nearly 100 
dispensaries like Price's, she added.

Price said he has gained 225 customers in the two weeks since he 
started selling medical cannabis. He works with a doctor who writes 
prescriptions for the product, has equipment to test its potency and 
requires customers to have shop-issued photo ID cards. Price said he 
opened the shop after his own experience with the federally approved 
mail-order system convinced him it was failing the people who need it.

"Winnipeggers should not have to go through what I went through of 
waiting for over three months to get my medicine," he said. "If (the 
federal government was) providing a proper service, why would I have 
225 patients in 13 days?"

Price said he is not sure he could get a licence from the federal 
government, but said even if he could, it would take up to four 
years. He said he has been paying GST on his products, and the city 
and province know about the nature of his business.

One of Price's customers, Colleen Carlson, 66, has lived and worked 
in Winnipeg her whole life. Carlson suffers from osteoarthritis, 
carpal tunnel syndrome and a painful intestinal condition. She said 
the narcotics she's been prescribed in the past left her "foggy" and 
not able to function. Medical cannabis works for her, she said, but 
she doesn't like the higher price point offered by the government, or 
the shipping fees and waiting time that come with Canada Post.

Price is hosting a peaceful rally at his store Tuesday with 
medical-marijuana users and supporters.

Winnipeg police declined to comment.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom