Pubdate: Wed, 04 Nov 2015 Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN) Copyright: 2015 The Leader-Post Ltd. Contact: http://www.leaderpost.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html Website: http://www.leaderpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361 Author: Alec Salloum Page: A5 REGINA ADVOCATES KEEPING EYE ON SASKATOON BUST Need Licence to Sell Pot, Police Stress Side-effects from Saskatoon's Compassion Club drug bust and arrests may include paranoia for Regina medical marijuana users. The non-profit Saskatoon-based dispensary was not licensed by Health Canada, which led to the arrest of its owners, seizure of their stock, and charges of possession and trafficking. "Face it, you're putting people's health at risk here (who) really depend on this cannabis as a medicine. This whole thing's gone way beyond just smoking weed," said Darin Wheatley. Wheatley, owner of B&B Hydroponics in Regina, is an advocate for legalization and the use of medical marijuana. Sgt. Todd Wall of the Regina Police Service declined to discuss RPS policy or approaches to the idea of dispensaries in Regina. "It's two sides of the coin," said Wall, head of the Regina Integrated Drug Unit's street enforcement team. "That person (in Saskatoon) was dispensing marijuana but didn't have a licence to do so ... at this point, as of today, in this country, it's still an illegal transaction," Wall said. Louise Folk, manager, strategy and operations with the City of Regina, said for a dispensary or licensed producer to function in Regina would require a licence from Health Canada, which is the regulatory body for all medicinal products, and from the federal government. "The land use for medical marijuana can only be granted if a licence has been issued from Health Canada," Folk said. Folk was not aware of any dispensaries currently operating in Regina, though there are two Health Canada-certified licensed producers - Prairie Plant Systems Inc. and CanniMed Ltd. Across Canada there are 26 licensed producers that can cultivate, sell and/or produce medicinal marijuana in accordance with Health Canada regulations. However, under the now repealed Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) laws, thousands of people across Canada who were able to access medical marijuana are now in jeopardy of losing access to medical marijuana. MMAR allowed for one of three options: a person could apply to Health Canada's supply of medical marijuana, apply for a personal use-production licence to grow it for themselves, or have a designated grower licensed to provide them with marijuana. These laws are currently under an injunction and are in limbo, but as it stands, former MMAR users and providers can operate legally. "To me, of course it should be safe. There should be safe growing practices, and there should be quality control ... but people have been growing it themselves for years," Wheatley said. "The police don't create the laws; we just enforce them ... whether we agree with those laws or not, that's the game we're involved with here," said Wall, adding that there's always discretion. Despite the arrests in Saskatoon, an employee of one Regina-based medical marijuana provider, which requires a physician's prescription and operates under MMAR, said he was hopeful for the future of legalized marijuana. "It's just like the end of alcohol prohibition, as soon it started to come to the end, they started jailing everyone they could ... I think the same thing will happen with medical marijuana," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom