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. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom