Pubdate: Sat, 25 Jul 2015
Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB)
Copyright: 2015 Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact: http://www.edmontonsun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.edmontonsun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135
Author: Kevin Maimann
Page: 3

MEDICAL MARIJUANA BUST

Three charged after dispensary raided by city police ALERT squad

More than 1,000 patients suffering from chronic pain, cancer or
epilepsy are without their medicine of choice after police shut down
an Edmonton medical marijuana dispensary.

The Mobile Access Compassionate Resources Organization Society
(MACROS) was shut down Wednesday and its president and two founders
were arrested and charged.

Ryan Wolff, who suffers from epididymitis - chronic pain in his
testicles - and a nerve condition that affects previous injuries, is
"devastated." Wol obtained a medical marijuana licence from a doctor
last December and said the concentrated form of marijuana he gets from
MACROS is the only thing that has helped him with his pain.

"I've tried over 20 types of medications for it all, and medical
marijuana is all I got," he said.

"I physically cannot go a day without it."

Wolff has tracked down a company in Saskatchewan that will send him
something similar, but in the meantime he and other patients who rely
on the medicine are left with few options.

"I have a lot going for me. I can't afford to be caught buying a bag
of weed (on the street) because I need it to get through my day," he
said.

"They went and shut down a pharmacy, is what it is."

MACROS president Aaron Bott said the family-run nonprofit, which
operated out of the back of the hemp product shop Hemper-Fi on 41
Street and 118 Avenue, was the only dispensary in Alberta and
functioned under the same rules as the dozens of dispensaries in B.C.

He said parts of what MACROS does are technically illegal, but the
society existed for 11 years and had no previous run-ins with the law.
Bott said MACROS obtained its product legally from growers out of
province who are subject to Health Canada regulations.

"We were supplying a service to the medical community that the
government has failed to provide," Bott said.

"We don't even allow anybody into our back office unless they show us
papers from their doctor."

Bott was arrested along with his mother, Janice Cyre and stepfather,
Robert Cyre, who founded MACROS. He said the three were charged with
possession with intent to traffic and each face mandatory minimum
sentences if convicted.

Bott said the Edmonton Police Service ALERT squad that carried out the
warrant at the business was "very respectful," but RCMP officers who
acted on the warrant at his stepfather's home in Spring Lake seized
all growing equipment and medicines even though both residents are
prescribed medical marijuana patients.

Bott said the health of some severely ill patients will now be in
jeopardy and he vows to keep helping them in any way he can.

MACROS patients range in age from four to 90 years
old.

"There's going to be a lot of hurting people," he said.

"We are fighting for them. We're not fighting for ourselves."

An EPS spokesperson confirmed that ALERT's Green Team is in charge of
the investigation. ALERT could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
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