Pubdate: 24 Mar 2016
Source: Parkdale-Liberty Villager (CN ON)
Email:  http://www.insidetoronto.com/parkdale-toronto-on-community
Author: Hilary Caton

EXPLORING THE "GREY AREA" OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

A Toronto mother of three has opened up a medical marijuana shop on
Parkdale's main strip on Queen Street West and a passer-by wouldn't
even know it.

Nestled between a flower shop and a bar, The Caylx Wellness Centre has
no enlarged marijuana leaf emblazoned on the store front, its name
isn't a play on words associated with weed and there's no neon lights;
the go-to marketing designs for dispensaries.

Instead store owner Danielle, who requested to not have her last name
published, went a different route and focused on the importance of
discretion.

"I don't feel like it should be exposed. It's still not widely
accepted. It's a gray area. There's also quite a bit of a stigma to
it. So it was important to me, when branding this that even our
symbol, the calyx, resembles something you would see at a holistic
centre," Danielle told The Villager.

"We're not about being out there and bringing in the most business.
There's something to being discreet and quiet. A lot of people may be
taking medical marijuana for whatever reason but they don't want
everybody to know."

The Calyx Wellness Centre opened in late October 2015 and since then
has taken in roughly 153 patients, with more showing up daily, she
said. Those who are aware of her shop require a legitimate doctor's
note and prescription to purchase the medical marijuana. It's also a
membership-only dispensary. No card, no entry is her policy, and
patients also have to be 25 years of age or older to be a member.

Danielle's aspiration for the clinic is for it to become a complete
holistic centre with a serene feel with the potential to refer
patients to acupuncturists and even offer cooking with cannabis classes.

Although competition is stiff, with more than 50 dispensaries
scattered around the city, she's hoping her branding will set her
apart from the others. The design is bright and light with air tight
security.

"When you walk in you feel like you're walking into a spa," Danielle
explained.

Many of the clientele come from the Parkdale area; however, patients
come from other neighbourhoods. In Parkdale alone, three dispensaries
have popped up on Queen Street West between King Street and Elm Grove
Avenue in the past five months.

The Parkdale Village Business Improvement Area has been dealing with
some community concerns, said Anna Bartula its executive director.

"The impression is that it's not a positive business image. There are
also a lot of misconceptions that people will be selling drugs and
there'll be line ups... there were also questions about what if
there's a robbery. There were concerns about it being a targeted part
of the street."

The community also brought forward concerns of loitering and the type
of clientele dispensaries would bring to the neighbourhood. But who
comes to the business is not up to the BIA, Bartula said.

"It's such a new business and nothing like this has been in our
neighbourhood before. As a BIA, I feel like we're in a gray area.
They're like any other business and we treat them as such," Bartula
explained.

Over in Fort York, cannabis dispensary We Leaf opened at the bottom of
the LTD Condos on Bruyeres Mews. The overall sentiment towards this
dispensary seems to be different from those in Parkdale.

"It's neither good nor bad. The marijuana culture, the weed culture is
not actually anything harmful to a lot of people," said Fort York
resident Ryan Myal.

"It's something that Canadians are very open to. It's even something
the federal government is considering decriminalizing and regulating
and I think there are some good things that could come of it too. It's
additional revenue they (the government) have and it could go a long
way to supporting infrastructure in the city."

>From the city's point of view, there is no bylaw that permits
dispensaries in the city. According to Richard Mucha, acting director
of Licensing Services at the city's Municipal Licensing and Standards
department, the city only looks at the land use of where the business
is operating and if it's in compliance.

"If the primary use is a doctor's office then we can check and see if
that's being done. Our only responsibility is land use. And if these
properties come to our attention we'll investigate them as we would
any other land use concerns," Mucha said.

"The dispensing of marijuana, medical or otherwise, is a matter for
Toronto Police Service or Health Canada."

The legalization and regulation of marijuana has not yet been adopted
by any level of government in Ontario, therefore these dispensaries
are technically operating illegally according to the City of Toronto,
Toronto police and Health Canada.

There are only a select few dispensaries, authorized by Health Canada
to distribute marijuana by mail to those with verified prescriptions.
According to Health Canada's website, it states neither Health Canada
nor the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) authorize
licensed producers to provide marijuana for medical purposes through a
storefront.

So how can they continue to run? The simple answer is they just do,
but not without watchful eyes.

"The people who are doing it are committing civil disobedience.
They're breaking a law that's unjust that our federal government is
committed to changing somehow... Yes, it's illegal but it's the right
thing to do," said Jamie Shaw, the president of the Canadian
Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries in Vancouver.

"It's a tricky thing. Is it wrong to break an unjust law? That's where
the crux of the issue really comes down to. People are using it for
medical reasons. That's exactly what's led to all of this in the first
place."

Originally, Shaw said, medical dispensaries opened to help patients
find relief from HIV and cancer treatments.

"...These people are suffering the most and we need to do something
about that right now," she added.

Danielle's patients who come in to her dispensary in Parkdale, suffer
from a wide range of medical issues, such as arthritis, AIDS, cancer,
glaucoma and diabetes. The most common problem among her clients is
epilepsy and back pain, she said.

The Parkdale community has its fair share of residents who need
Calyx's services, according to the BIA's executive director, and it's
safer than using alcohol in her opinion.

"Alcohol is much more dangerous than a clinically monitored approach
to a holistic medicine. People who use this suffer from grave
illnesses, whether it's epilepsy or cancer. These are serious things,
not recreational," Bartula said.

"I think being in a community that offers a lot of resources to
individuals struggling with different health obstacles, it makes sense
for it to be here. I'm surprised it didn't come sooner."
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