Pubdate: Wed, 27 Jan 2016
Source: Peninsula News Review (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Black Press
Contact:  http://www.vicnews.com/eeditions/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1373

DISPENSING POT ADVICE

Sidney and the local police force seem to be doing everything they 
can to nip a proposed medicinal marijuana dispensary in the bud.

Better to try and prevent a retail pot shop up front, one would 
suppose, rather than have police conduct raids later on.

The proponent of Dispensary by the Sea - planned to open on Second 
Street just off Beacon Avenue, has applied to the Town to open the 
storefront facility. That's not legal, according to the RCMP - and 
Health Canada, which states that legal, licenced and registered 
producers of medical marijuana can only direct mail the product to 
registered customers.

Of course, that hasn't stopped new dispensaries from opening up in 
what can only be called a large-scale challenge to federal rules on 
the distribution of medical marijuana.

The Liberal government has stated it plans on looking into ways to 
legalize pot - in one form or another - but as municipal staff and 
local police point out, that just hasn't happened yet. And as such 
dispensaries of medicinal marijuana are still not legal. Hence the 
raids by police of such storefronts in cities like Nanaimo.

That's not stopping proponents of the drug. Some stores, raided by 
police, have already re-opened. Others may continue to operate under 
the radar, as they have for years.

There is a lot of anticipation of change in Canada over its pot laws. 
And that is driving some to jump the gun - perhaps trying to push the 
agenda forward.

Yet whether you wish to see marijuana legalized or not, flouting 
existing laws only makes a difficult situation worse and stands to 
muddy the waters should new rules come into effect under the current 
government in Ottawa. It's easy to anticipate a variety of 
underground users and sellers stemming from these ad hoc and illegal 
pot shops and that stands to undermine progress towards legalization.

That may be what some people are after, however. For some, 
legalization means unwanted regulation. For others, the debate means 
there's a chance for its continued prohibition.

In the end, legalization in Canada remains under a cloud.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom