Pubdate: Thu, 07 Apr 2016
Source: Chilliwack Times (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Chilliwack Times
Contact:  http://www.chilliwacktimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1357
Author: Paul J. Henderson

HIGH ON WEED'S HEALING POWERS

Kate Beaupre may not be who a lot of people picture when they imagine
a medical marijuana user.

In fact, the 63-year-old cancer survivor who suffers from rheumatoid
arthritis and ulcers hasn't tried smoking marijuana since her late
20s, and she's never tried ingesting it.

And while it's now closed, just 18 days after opening, Beaupre was
happy to see Chilliwack's first medical marijuana dispensary so she
could try something other than pharmaceuticals to ease her pain.

"I was glad when they opened up," Beaupre said in an interview in her
downtown Chilliwack apartment. "I was there the first day."

She still has no interest in smoking or even ingesting, but what she
bought was a topical, non-psychoactive arthritis balm that is said, by
manufacturer Cannalife Botanicals, to combine "the potent synergy of
cannabis sativa, comfrey and nettle plant medicine."

She's only tried it a few times, but said it helps "a bit." Spring is
not the time of year when her arthritis is so bad. It will be in
November when she hopes to see if the product works, if she can still
get it then.

Amberleigh Dauphinais is also new to cannabis, but said she has seen
immediate benefits.

"I never used cannabis or smoked pot/weed until three weeks ago when I
finally got sick of my doctor just giving me pill after pill for my
long list of medical conditions," the 28-year-old said. "In that three
weeks half my prescription stuff is now out and I smoke maybe two
puffs at night and an edible late day. I am shocked the difference in
only a couple weeks that it's made."

She said her main problem is fibromyalgia, but she suffers from PTSD,
insomnia, ADHD, depression, nerve pain and migraines.

"Marijuana has resulted in me going down to one pill a couple times a
day instead of three to five pills two or more times a day."

WeeMedical Dispensary opened up March 19 on Fifth Avenue just off
Young Road. The shop, which sold various strains of marijuana as well
as edibles, salves, tinctures and balms, quickly had a steady stream
of business.

But three days before they even opened, they received a warning letter
from city hall's lawyers stating the business was in contravention of
the zoning and business licence bylaws.

The shop, managed by Shayli Vere, didn't have a business licence and
couldn't get one since it's situated in a commercial zone that does
not allow for medical marijuana sales.

"Please be advised that if a marihuana dispensary commences operation
at 46000 Fifth Avenue, the City may commence legal proceedings to
enforce its bylaws without further notice," the legal notice said.

And enforce they did, issuing $1,000 fines daily to the shop and $500
each to the building's two owners, Brian Elderkin and David Andre.
Both the building's owners and the WeeMedical Dispensary Society
contested every fine, according to Vere.

She added also that they applied for a business licence, an
application that she said was reluctantly taken by city staff, and was
always going to be denied, based on what was said by the mayor.

Despite the dispute with city hall, and just hours before they were
raided, Vere told the Times they were well-received by the community
with a constant stream of people coming in to say how welcome the shop
is in the city. They had an online petition directed at city hall with
more than 400 signatures, and a paper copy in shop with about 200.

One irony for Vere is that in addition to city hall's frosty
reception, the denizens of a known drug house on the street were not
happy WeeMedical's shop arrived so close.

"We took some of the business," Vere said Tuesday, adding, "we've
improved [the neighbourhood]."

Before the raid Tuesday, Vere said the society had such support from
some members of the community that they were thinking of opening up a
second dispensary in the Sardis/Vedder area.

As for Beaupre and Dauphinais, both think city hall should back down
and allow the dispensary to operate.

"I think that's ridiculous," Beaupre said of the city's fines. "They
should let them have a business licence."

After the raid Tuesday, Dauphinais sent a letter to the mayor
explaining how the products have helped her medical conditions in just
a few weeks.

"I am asking as a person with health issues, who never used marijuana
prior to being 28 years old that you please reconsider this closure,"
she wrote. "They're not drug dealers, they're healers, they want to
help people with a natural product."
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MAP posted-by: Matt