Pubdate: Mon, 20 Jul 2015
Source: Winnipeg Sun (CN MB)
Copyright: 2015 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.winnipegsun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.winnipegsun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/503
Author: Jim Bender
Page: 3

SMOKE SIGNALS

Medical Marijuana Proponents Plan Pot Protest at Police Station

A "smoke-in" in support of Winnipeg's only medical marijuana 
dispensary is planned to take place just outside Winnipeg police 
headquarters Monday morning.

The peaceful protest at the Public Safety Building on Princess Street 
follows two visits Glenn Price said police made to his store, Your 
Medical Marijuana Headquarters, on Tuesday and Thursday of last week. 
The store owner says police are trying to force him to stop selling 
the medical weed because he has not been approved by Health Canada.

"I expect 10 to 40 people there, patients who need (medical 
marijuana) sitting around asserting their rights," Steven Stairs, a 
Canadian cannabis advocate, said Sunday. "It's going to be a peaceful 
demonstration to say what they're doing is wrong. He's being bullied 
into shutting down and I won't stand for it ... This will close down 
patients' chance to get medicinal marijuana and negatively affect their lives."

Price plans to join the 11 a.m. protest.

"I would have sooner done it in front of City Hall, but (city council 
members are) all on holidays," he said. "But they (police) visited me 
two times, so why not visit them?

"They came back to my shop on Thursday and, instead of four of them, 
there were six of them this time. They told people in my building 
that they were under investigation and if they came back, they could 
be arrested. I believe they asked everyone their names, what they 
were doing there and whether or not they worked there."

They even told a part-time employee he should look for another job 
because he could go to jail, Price claimed.

"They told me I'd get charged for trafficking," he added.

The Winnipeg police media office was closed Sunday and a duty officer 
declined comment. Police also declined comment last week, referring 
to the matter as an ongoing investigation.

The raids come in the wake of Vancouver introducing its own 
legislation to allow dispensaries to sell medical marijuana in 
defiance of Health Canada's regulations. Victoria is about to follow 
suit and Toronto is seriously considering doing so, said Canadian 
Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries vice-president Dana Larsen.

"This is a trend," Larsen said from Vancouver recently.

Since The Sun first reported the story last week, Price's customers 
have increased from 225 to almost 400, he said.

"I'm helping people," said Price, adding that he has documented proof 
that it can take up to three months to get medicinal marijuana 
through Health Canada's official channels.

Price plans to resume selling medicinal cannabis at his shop on 
Tuesday. Stairs has invited patients to form a human chain in front 
of the dispensary that day to force police to "break through a wall 
of sick people" to reach Price and his customers.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom