Pubdate: Wed, 20 Jul 2016
Source: Penticton Western (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Penticton Western
Contact:  http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1310

FEDS NEED TO MOVE

There's an event being held Wednesday in Spirit Square (Campbell 
River) featuring two of the most well-known names in Canadian 
marijuana advocacy. Marc and Jodie Emery will speak about "reasonable 
access" to the product - which many say should be seen as medicine.

But the city has passed a bylaw prohibiting marijuana operations - 
including dispensaries - from operating within city limits until the 
federal government comes up with legislation concerning legalization.

One thing is clear: there won't be any winners in the ongoing 
marijuana dispute until the federal government comes up with some 
concrete answers on what the public is or is not allowed to access 
and who they're allowed to get it from.

We sympathize with the people who are using marijuana as medicine for 
chronic issues.

Some say it's the only relief they've found in years of trying 
different prescriptions or strategies to manage their pain or symptoms.

We understand that for those people, the crackdown on dispensaries 
will drive them to find underground sources. In some ways, the 
unwillingness of the authorities to turn a blind eye to businesses 
selling controlled doses of the chemical in the form of tinctures, 
oils and consumables, actually supports the independent dealers and 
black market - the "real criminals," some would call them.

On the other side of the coin, however, who gets to decide which laws 
the authorities should uphold?

If a law is bad, we need to have the law changed, not complain that 
the authorities are upholding it.

Next month, the feds are expected to come to the table with 
legislation surrounding access to marijuana for medicinal purposes, 
at which point we should have some answers and can actually move 
forward in a productive manner instead of having everyone yelling at 
each other about whether it's a waste of taxpayer dollars to enforce the law.

- - Black Press
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom