Pubdate: Thu, 29 Oct 2015
Source: Alberni Valley News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Alberni Valley News
Contact:  http://www.albernivalleynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4247
Author: Katya Slepian

POT STORE OPENS ON THIRD AVE

A controversial new medical marijuana dispensary has opened its doors
in Port Alberni's uptown. Whether it will stay there remains to be
seen.

WeeMedical opened its doors on Monday morning after hiring staff via
social media last week.

Operated by Justin Liu, WeeMedical will dispense marijuana face to
face to those who have a prescription from a doctor; either the one
they have on staff or an independent one. It's a model he uses at a
similar dispensary in Nanaimo, where they are still operational and
Liu said they have never had a police complaint.

It is, however, a model that is currently illegal, Port Alberni RCMP
Inspector Mac Richards said.

"As it is set up, those are illegal and are not approved so as a
result we will be investigating and taking appropriate followup as
required," said Richards.

Liu, who said that WeeMedical is a registered non-profit, believes
that times are changing for marijuana usage.

"The writing's on the wall... the Liberals are in, it's being
legalized," said Liu.

"If you look at Vancouver, there's more dispensaries than there are
Starbucks," he added.

"We operate on the highest standard of if you need it medicinally-such
as if you have fibromyalgia, cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic
migraines, chronic back pain, and you can prove that you do have those
ailments then we're substituting the typical drugs for that."

How long they will remain operation is to be seen.

City planner Scott Smith said that the dispensary has "no approvals
from the city."

While Smith wouldn't speculate as to the hypothetical approvals that
could be imposed on a marijuana dispensary, he did state that
"non-profits of a legal nature would not require a business licence."

However, permits for renovations may still be required depending on
the circumstances, Smith added.

It's not just the legality of WeeMedical that has some residents
worried, however.

Trevor Bertrand of the Port Alberni Cannabis Club and a medical user
of marijuana feels like the dispensary jumped the gun.

"The so-called medical cannabis setup on Third Avenue is illegal,"
Bertrand told city council on Monday night.

"The storefront model doesn't exist and is illegal."

Only Health Canada, Bertrand said, can licence dispensaries to mail
out-and only mail out-medical marijuana to people with a
prescription.

"The sealed containers must be labelled with how much THC is in the
cannabis," said Bertrand, adding that edibles are not available for
legal, medical usage.

"Without proper labels in the storefront model, unsuspecting adults
and children can overdose," he said.

Where unlicensed dispensaries get their cannabis from is also
questionable, he said.

"Cannabis in these storefront models is coming from organized crime as
they have no access to licenced producers. They are basically
storefront drug dealers."

City council has yet to make a decision regarding the dispensary.
Coun. Chris Alemany said that he is "expecting that the issue will
come to the next public meeting."

The next regular council meeting is on Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. at city hall.
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MAP posted-by: Matt