Pubdate: Fri, 14 Aug 2015
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Tristan Hopper
Page: A6

FLYER PULLED OVER FREE POT PROMISE

It Could Be Perceived As Trafficking

A Victoria dispensary's campaign promising "free premium cannabis" 
was brought to a swift end this week after its flyer attracted the 
attention of police.

In keeping with the West Coast norms for marijuana, it wasn't exactly 
a crackdown.

"My liaison officer rolled by and said ' hey James ... we just got 
asked whether or not this was OK, and out of respect can you hold off 
on putting these out right now?" said James Whitehead, owner of the 
Gorge Cannabis Dispensary.

The Victoria police maintains two liaison officers to keep an eye on 
the city's booming dispensary trade, and they found out about the 
flyer when a citizen sent a message to the department's Twitter account.

In a region increasingly filled with sketchy dispensaries purporting 
to sell "medical marijuana," Whitehead's is actually among the most legitimate.

Located next to a pharmacy and a doctor's office within the larger 
Gorge Health Centre, the dispensary has a clinical air and provides 
cannabis only to customers who have been certified for medical 
marijuana by Health Canada - or who have a prescription from an MD.

At dozens of other Vancouver or Victoria dispensaries - with names 
such as Weeds and Green Panda - pot can been had with as little as a 
45-second consultation with a naturopath or, in some cases, the 
simple display of photo ID.

"As much as an unregulated, unlawful thing can be, we are very much 
above board," said Whitehead.

Nevertheless, the flyer's promise of free pot "could be perceived as 
trafficking," police said.

"This is my opportunity to tell him on camera that he needs to stop 
that activity," Victoria police Insp. Scott McGregor said on local TV.

The deal offered on the flyer was a free gram of cannabis for every 
gram purchased. Whitehead said he was trying to attract legitimate 
customers who might have been patronizing less reputable 
dispensaries. The places with "pool tables, neon signs and Bob Marley 
posters," as he calls them.

"Hey, (Victoria police,) is it just me or is this a little sketchy?" 
read a Tweet from radio station employee Mitch Hawes, who found one 
of the flyers on his car on Monday. The post spurred the department's 
visit to Whitehead - and a minor media storm.

 From a federal standpoint, any dispensary is illegal. Since new 
regulations kicked in last year, the only truly legal way to obtain 
medical marijuana is by buying it through the mail from one of 17 
large growers licensed by Health Canada.

Nevertheless, on the West Coast and in several urban centres, 
storefront dispensaries have thrived for the sole reason that police 
have decided not to shut them so long as they stay out of trouble.

As McGregor told the Times Colonist this week, officers are more 
concerned with busting drug dealers selling heroin or crack cocaine.

Whitehead said that in contrast to the storefront "traffickers" 
masquerading as dispensaries, his shop is merely filling a medical 
marijuana shortage created by the new Health Canada system.

"If Health Canada was sending good quality marijuana through the mail 
in a timely fashion, then all these (licence holders) would not be in 
a position where they're forced to seek alternatives," he said.

The Victoria case is not the first time a B.C. dispensary has drawn 
attention for promising free pot. In December, flyers from a downtown 
dispensary were placed on cars in Metro Vancouver, also promising 
"free premium cannabis."

RCMP in Richmond, B.C., said at the time they weren't too worried about it.

"Our position on the business cards is that nothing criminal is being 
committed simply by handing them out to the public at large," said 
Cpl. Dennis Hwang.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom