Pubdate: Tue, 02 Aug 2016
Source: Metro (Calgary, CN AB)
Copyright: 2016 Metro Canada
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/Calgary
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4471
Author: Brodie Thomas
Page: 8

POT PURVEYOR EYES CALGARY

Police say plan for mail-order marijuana is not legal

The owner of Erbachay Health Centres was in Calgary in July, handing
out business cards and flyers in hopes of getting a toehold on this
side of the Rockies.

Now that Canadians know recreational marijuana will soon be legalized,
it's getting harder to hold the floodgates back, even if it's in the
guise of medical services.

Calgary City Council recently passed a bylaw limiting where medical
marijuana counselling services can set up shop. Businesses offering
that service can't be within 300 metres of one another, or 150 metres
of a school.

While there are several counselling services that will help you get a
prescription, Calgary has yet to see dispensaries open up shop, as
they have by the hundreds in Vancouver, even though they are
technically illegal in many cases.

Delainey said he was scouting out possible locations for a dispensary
while in Calgary, but mainly he wanted to drum up mail order business
from this region.

"Delivery is a flat $10 fee," he said. "It comes by registered mail -
either Canada post or Purolator."

He doesn't require you to have a prescription for medical marijuana -
just proof that you are on some form of medication. That could be a
pill bottle or a prescription.

What he's doing is illegal, according to the Calgary Police
Service.

A spokesperson there explained that if a dispensary is federally
licensed and a customer has a prescription, then the police will not
get involved.

In any other instance, people may be opening themselves up to criminal
code offences such as trafficking or possession.

Delainey said he is providing medical cannabis under the R vs. Smith
Supreme Court Ruling of June 11, 2015.

"The court unanimously declared that providing cannabis for medical
purposes is legal," said Delainey.

That ruling did strike down bans on possession of marijuana in forms
other than a dried plant. Health Canada has since said it did not
alter other regulations on who can produce, possess and sell marijuana.

Delainey said he reached out to the mayor and all members of city
council to talk about his business, but did not receive any responses
back.
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MAP posted-by: Matt