Pubdate: Tue, 19 Apr 2016 Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) Page: A3 Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Contact: http://www.calgaryherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66 Author: Trevor Howell MEDICAL-POT COUNSELLING WOULD CHANGE UNDER BYLAW Medical marijuana counselling businesses could soon face similar land-use bylaws as liquor stores to prevent them from clustering in communities and from opening too close to schools, according to a report to the city's planning body. On Thursday, administration will present a land-use bylaw amendment to the Calgary Planning Commission that recommends medical marijuana counselling businesses be listed as a discretionary use in most commercial and industrial districts. It would require the businesses to be separated by at least 300 metres from each other and 150 metres from schools to prevent clustering and proliferation similar to existing rules used for liquor stores. Additionally, city administration is suggesting each applicant consider signing a non-binding Good Neighbour Agreement to foster a positive relationship with the community, establish protocols and resolve complaints and concerns about their operation. Councillors Diane Colley-Urquhart and Gian-Carlo Carra pushed for the changes last year after the opening of the 420 Clinic in Inglewood rankled some residents and the community association who feared it would become a pot dispensary down the road. "It just makes it easier for people who want to do it," said city planner Laurie Kimber. "They know exactly what use it is and it makes it easier on the city too because we can manage them better and the people who handle these applications will know exactly what this is." Counselling clinics help patients navigate federal laws, offer advice on different strains of marijuana, and connect them with licensed growers. Clients looking for prescriptions can also get access to doctors, but they must present medical histories documenting long-term chronic pain and failed attempts to alleviate it. A survey by Health Canada found roughly 500,000 Canadians over the age of 25 use cannabis for medical purposes. The agency projects prescriptions for medical marijuana will reach 450,000 by the end of 2024, up from roughly 58,000 in 2014. Still, many physicians remain squeamish prescribing marijuana to patients or even providing medical advice, forcing users to seek counselling from people who aren't medical professionals, says Kimber. "I think perhaps part of that reason is that it hasn't undergone the testing that other pharmaceuticals have had," Kimber said. "There aren't a lot of doctors out there with that kind of expertise in terms of the types of strains." The previous federal Conservative government tried ending the controversial Medical Marijuana Access Regulations program that allowed patients, or a designated grower, to legally produce a limited supply in their homes. Health Canada announced it would end the program and replace it with a system allowing patients with a prescription to buy marijuana through a federally approved grower. But patients and cannabis advocates successfully obtained a temporary injunction and in February a Federal Court judge struck down the ban on home growing and ordered the new Liberal government to rewrite medical marijuana regulations within six months. Because of that decision, city bureaucrats don't "foresee significant future demand" for medical marijuana counselling businesses, says the proposed bylaw amendment report, adding only two currently operate in Calgary. "If the court decision had gone the other way ... I think we would see some demand for this use," said Kimber. "But I think that's going to be muted now." Counselling business can be controversial because many mistakenly believe they dispense medical marijuana, will lead to retail sales of the drug, or be a blight on the community. Calgary's existing business use and land-use bylaws don't have a category to regulate medical marijuana counselling outfits. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D