Pubdate: Mon, 10 Aug 2015
Source: Metro (Winnipeg, CN MB)
Copyright: 2015 Free Daily News Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/winnipeg
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5322
Author: Shannon VanRaes
Note: Shannon VanRaes is a Winnipeg-based journalist and 
photojournalist who spends her days contributing to the Manitoba 
Co-operator and her nights covering urban affairs.
Page: 10

POT DISPENSARIES NEED REGULATION, NOT RAIDS

Without regulation, dispensaries will open in neighbourhoods where 
they're not wanted.

Glen Price may not be the leader the medical marijuana movement 
wanted or needed, but he's what they got.

Scruffy, with an eclectic storefront on Main Street and questionable 
prescription fees, the owner of Your Medical Marijuana Headquarters 
has put a question to city leaders, one that has yet to be answered.

By opening Winnipeg's first medical pot dispensary and by remaining 
open with the knowledge arrest and closure were imminent, Price has 
revealed the idiosyncratic nature of marijuana law in Canada and 
forced an important issue to the forefront.

Why is it that residents of one Canadian city (Vancouver) can sell 
medical marijuana from startup dispensaries and residents of another 
cannot? How can patients in Winnipeg be required to buy from one of 
the 25 producers licensed by Health Canada, and patients in Vancouver 
can visit one of roughly 100 dispensaries?

Are Canadian drug laws really that open to interpretation? Can 
municipal regulators really address this federal issue? So far, it 
seems they can - if there is the political will to do so.

But Winnipeg is lacking political direction on the issue. There has 
been little public comment and even less leadership since the raid.

Only Ross Eadie, councillor for Mynarski Ward, and St. Vital 
councillor Brian Mayes staked out a position on the issue. Both 
believe Winnipeg should regulate medical marijuana dispensaries in a 
similar way to Vancouver, not ban them.

Of course the city should regulate them. Make no mistake, other 
dispensaries will try to open in Winnipeg despite this closure. And 
without regulation, these businesses will open in neighbourhoods 
where they're not wanted, they'll open near schools, they will lack 
ethical guidelines and expertise and they will lack consistency and oversight.

Without regulation, what these future dispensaries will provide is a 
costly, unending game of whack-a-mole for law enforcement, increased 
work loads for Crown prosecutors and uncertainly for patients. By not 
regulating medical marijuana dispensaries, Winnipeg is also losing 
out on a new opportunity for fresh revenue streams.

But given that Mayor Brian Bowman has previously stated he doesn't 
believe this is an issue for cities to tackle, it seems unlikely that 
we will see strong leadership on medical marijuana from the Mayor's 
office anytime soon.

Like many important issues, this will no doubt be resolved by a great 
deal of money and years of legal proceedings instead of common sense.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom