Pubdate: Thu, 26 May 2016
Source: Trail Times (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Black Press, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.traildailytimes.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1043
Author: Sheri Regnier

TRAIL COUNCIL SAYS 'NO' TO POT RETAILERS

The sale of pot for medical use will not be allowed in the City of
Trail, at least for now.

The matter came before council Tuesday evening after two requests, one
verbal, one written,were recently submitted to the city.

Even though what the media touts the "green rush," or plenty of pot
shops popping up around the province, including a handful in Nelson,
current federal laws under Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations
(MMPR) allow medical marijuana users to purchase dried marijuana only
by mail and only from Licensed Producers (LP).

In other words, LPs are the only legal means by which to obtain
marijuana for medical purposes, according to a report by Trail
Corporate Administrator Michelle McIsaac.

"At this time, the staff recommendation moving forward would be to
continue to tell any people approaching the city that retail sale of
medical marijuana, because it is not federally allowed, would be
prohibited," McIsaac explained to council.

Staff is not aware of any alterations to the current law, (but) should
any change to the MMPR be enacted to allow for the retail sale, then
the city would have to look closely at what regulations it wants to
put in place, she clarified.

"We would want those to align with what federal regulations are, but
to have a local flavour to ensure that our community is protected."

Some of those protections would be to look at distances from schools
or residences, McIsaac added.

"And (we) would want to have a very close look at how these operations
should be permittedlegally here in Trail if the federal regulations
change to allow such."

Coun. Kevin Jolly asked if municipalities in general, under their
Community Charter or Local Government Act, could make their own law in
relation to medical marijuana, that contravenes either the provincial
or federal statutes.

Municipalities do have the power under community charters to regulate
business and impose those regulations as councils' see fit for
respective communities, McIsaac replied.

"It's implied that we would have all our business activities aligned
with the federal regulations," she explained. "But that said, we can
have specific regulations imposed for business purposes."

In the end, council agreed to prohibit the practise until such time
federal laws allow for the retail sale of marijuana and the operation
of medical marijuana retail storefronts, including compassion clubs
and dispensaries.

Mayor Mike Martin says council's decision is a forward-thinking
response for two parties interested in opening a medical marijuana
storefront, as well as others who may inquire.

"We thought we would just take a proactive step in defining our
boundaries," Martin told the Trail Times. "Whereas other communities
may not have done that ahead of time, then were possibly caught up in
something being put in their community and having to deal with it
subsequently."

After a second medical marijuana dispensary opened on Baker Street in
Nelson, bringing the count to six, Greg Nesteroff from the Nelson
Star, spoke with Kootenay-Columbia MP Wayne Stetski, who said it's
time to embrace the burgeoning industry.

"There are companies that are well down the road to being able to
produce commercial quantities of medical-grade marijuana, and the
whole thing seems to have gone into a stop mode until the Liberal
government figures out how how to move forward," Stetski told the
Star. "We're stuck in Never Never Land here."

Stetski thinks the Liberals are dragging their feet on moving forward
with marijuana legalization.

"The federal government could have done that five months ago and they
chose not to," he said."This is putting both entrepreneurs and the
public into a state of confusion."
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MAP posted-by: Matt