Pubdate: Fri, 15 Jul 2016
Source: Peninsula News Review (CN BC)
Page: A6
Copyright: 2016 Black Press
Contact:  http://www.vicnews.com/eeditions/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1373

TAKE A LEAD ROLE ON POT

Canadian have a right to access medicinal marijuana. That was a 
February Supreme Court of Canada decision that has set in motion a 
flurry of activity in Ottawa - and in any communities across B.C. 
including Sidney.

The court gave the federal government a deadline to come up with new 
legislation that would keep pace with their decision. Justin 
Trudeau's Liberals are now working on those laws that they say should 
be ready by summer, 2017. This week, the Liberals announced they 
would form a task force of learned individuals to hit the road and 
talk to Canadians as part of a public consultation requirement en 
route to the big changes.

People wanting to get in on the ground floor of a new medicinal 
cannabis distribution industry are not waiting until then. In cities 
and towns all over - and that does include Sidney and its very own 
Dispensary by the Sea - store fronts are being opened. They are, 
technically illegal under current Health Canada laws.

However, they are playing off the large gray area created by the 
court decision and the subsequent vacuum between it and Ottawa's 
political process.

That leaves places like Sidney wondering what to do. In the 
Dispensary's case, Sidney suspended their business license following 
a police raid.

Yet, without any charges laid by the Crown to date, they are lacking 
the high ground to revoke the licence outright.

They could fall back on current laws, but that would ignore the fact 
that the issue is constantly changing around them.

This particular case has given Sidney the chance to discuss how it 
wants to address the issue. Certainly, some people are uncomfortable 
with flouting the current laws. Yet, it would be a case of covering 
one's eyes and ears to simply let that be the only answer.

The municipality has decided to look into what other communities are 
doing and how they can better define medicinal cannabis services 
within its business licensing system.

It's a good start. And when the new laws finally do come to pass, 
Sidney will be ready to help regulate what is already a wild west 
state of affairs.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom