Pubdate: Fri, 08 Jul 2016
Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)
Page: 8
Copyright: 2016 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.ottawasun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.ottawasun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329
Author: Jacquie Miller

GROWING LIKE WEED

Illegal Pot Stores Sprouting Up Across Ottawa

Welcome to the National Cannabis Region.

Two marijuana dispensary chains have opened up shops in Ottawa, and 
with Stittsville also set to get a dispensary, Ottawa will soon be 
home to six marijuana storefronts.

The newest shop, Green Tree Medical Dispensary, began offering its 
wares - a selection of dried buds, cookies, candy and drinks - on 
Montreal Road Sunday.

Medical marijuana is legal in Canada, but only for patients with a 
doctor's prescription who purchase it from Health Canada licensed 
growers, who ship it by registered mail.

Ottawa police won't say what they plan to do. "We are aware of their 
locations and we are looking into the matter," said spokesman Const. 
Chuck Benoit.

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury says both police and city bylaw 
officers are investigating. "When it is appropriate, we will close 
them down," he said.

Fleury said they are closely monitoring the situation in Toronto, 
where police raided 47 dispensaries in the last six weeks. After one 
raid in May, 90 people were arrested and hundreds of charges were 
laid, on top of numerous bylaw offences.

"This is the direction we are looking into," said Fleury.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson was unavailable to comment, but his 
spokesperson said that "under the current legislation, Ottawa Police 
has the authority to enforce the law if it is breached, and 
investigate public complaints as they arise."

The federal government has promised to legalize recreational 
marijuana. But Some of the marijuana on display at Green Tree Medical 
Dispensary, below, on Montreal Rd. until then, drug laws remain in 
force, warned a recent statement from the ministers of Justice, 
Health and Public Safety. "The possession, production, and 
trafficking of marijuana remains illegal. This includes storefronts 
selling marijuana, commonly known as 'dispensaries' and 'compassion clubs.'"

But new dispensaries continue to open across Canada.

Ottawa's latest, Green Tree on Montreal Road, is part of a chain with 
20 outlets in Toronto and Vancouver, said a 21-year-old staffer 
working there Tuesday. Tyshanna Bryant said another five stores are 
planned in Ottawa and Gatineau. She wasn't allowed to provide the 
name or contact information for the owner.

The dried marijuana on display in glass jars, with names like Blue 
Amnesia and Afghani Kush, ranges from $2.50 to $14 a gram. It's $4 to 
$20 for the edibles, which include cookies, candy, chocolate bars, 
iced tea powder and pop.

On Tuesday, customers were asked to fill out a form listing their 
medical symptoms, and promising to use the products only for their 
own medical purposes.

One customer Tuesday ordered the Monster Hash and considered a blend 
of dried marijuana called Moby that Bryant recommended. "This one is 
a sativa (strain)," she explained. "It will give you energy, make you 
want to clean up your house."

Bryant listed who is eligible to shop at Green Tree: anyone 
registered with a marijuana producer licensed by Health Canada; any 
member of another dispensary in Ottawa; or anyone with an ailment 
that may be helped by marijuana.

The products are from Vancouver, but Bryant wasn't sure of the 
source, saying that was handled by head office.

It's not easy to locate that office, though. Green Tree's website 
lists two stores in Nanaimo, B.C., and one phone number. The person 
who answered the phone, Krista Wise, said the two addresses are now 
WeeMedical Dispensary Society outlets. When told they are listed on 
the Green Tree website, she was baffled. "That's weird."

There may be some overlap in ownership between Green Tree and 
WeeMedical, said Wise. She said she was not allowed to give out 
information about the WeeMedical owners, but promised to pass along a 
request for an interview. Wise said WeeMedical owns six stores on 
Vancouver Island, seven in Ontario and five or six in Vancouver.

Two emails sent to WeeMedical bounced back as undeliverable. Green 
Tree did not immediately respond to an emailed request for information.

A B.C.-based chain, Weeds Glass & Gifts, has also moved into Ottawa 
with two stores on Montreal Road and downtown on Bank Street.

Weeds is owned by Don Briere, often dubbed the "king of pot" in B.C. 
He has spent 25 years campaigning for legalization and has been 
jailed three times. The chain has eight outlets in B.C., one in 
Quebec City and two in Toronto, said Briere. He closed five stores in 
Toronto due to police raids there, but is planning to open two new 
ones, and maybe two more in Ottawa.

Magna Terra Health Services is set to open a sixth Ottawa dispensary 
on Iber Road in Stittsville. Majority owner Franco Vigile said he 
talked to Coun. Shad Qadri and a community policing officer to assure 
them the business will operate safely and responsibly.

Qadri said he advised Vigile to check with bylaw officials. "At this 
point in time, the drug is illegal," he said. "Based on that, I am 
not in favour of the (dispensary)."

Vigile is also part-owner of Ottawa Medical Dispensary on Carling 
Avenue, which was the first marijuana dispensary in town when it 
opened in November 2015.

He takes offence to his businesses being called "pot shops," saying 
he considers them medical cannabis clinics. "Various medical studies 
have shown that marijuana helps to heal and bring comfort to a lot of people.

"We're doing a lot of good for the community, and we're dedicated 
toward the golden standard, basically, in the cannabis industry, to 
making sure that health and safety are our number one priorities."

Employees at Magna Terra take a 14-hour program to educate them about 
the science, chemistry and proper dispensing of marijuana, said Vigile.

Screening at OMD and Magna Terra is strict: patients must have a 
prescription, or prove they can legally obtain marijuana from a 
producer licensed by Health Canada. The OMD office looks like a 
doctor's waiting room, and the marijuana is out of sight in a back room.

It's unfair to tar all marijuana dispensaries with the same brush, 
said Vigile. Is he concerned police might raid either OMD or his new 
clinic and charge him with drug trafficking? If police charge him for 
"helping people and providing medicine," he'll still be able to sleep 
at night, said Vigile.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom