Pubdate: Fri, 30 Sep 2016
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Stephanie Ip
Page: 3

THREE ARRESTED, RELEASED IN POT RAID

Investigation: Owner decided to close Surrey marijuana dispensary, says 
RCMP 'wasting our resources'

Three people were arrested and released on Thursday as RCMP
investigate a Surrey marijuana dispensary.

Around 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Surrey RCMP officers executed a search
warrant on Da Kine Glass and Gifts at 10330 152nd St. in Guildford,
according to the shop's owner. Officers had been stationed outside the
shop for about 24 hours awaiting the warrant.

"They won't tell us anything," said Don Briere, owner of the Weeds
Glass and Gifts chain, which includes the Da Kine Guildford shop.
Briere said officers were boxing up items in the shop and obtaining
security camera footage on Thursday evening.

Officers arrived Wednesday mid-afternoon to the shop, and had been
standing by since, Briere told Postmedia on Thursday afternoon.
Following the police arrival, Briere said he ordered staff to close
the shop early and to comply with officers. The dispensary did not
open as scheduled on Thursday morning, with some customers and
patients being turned away, he said.

"I don't know what that's costing them, but it's costing a lot of
money in every sense of the word," said Briere, who maintained there
were likely other more pressing matters police could have been
attending to, instead of standing guard outside his business overnight.

"We want to know what's going too - we want to know why they're
wasting our resources."

He also notes that Da Kine has never been fined, unlike shops in his
chain which were issued fines when Vancouver introduced regulations
and licensing for dispensaries.

According to RCMP Sgt. Alanna Dunlop, officers were sent to the Surrey
shop on Wednesday when a controlled drugs and substances act
investigation was launched, and stayed there as RCMP prepared a search
warrant.

Dunlop said three people were arrested and later released, but had no
details on the reason for the arrests or when the arrests occurred.

"We received information that the location was possibly selling
marijuana products," said Dunlop in an email. "Access to cannabis is
only permitted under the terms and conditions set out in the Access to
Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations. Storefronts selling
marijuana are not authorized to sell cannabis for medical or any other
purposes."

Dunlop said such operations were "illegally supplied, and provide
products that are unregulated and may be unsafe" and that illegal
storefronts distributing and selling cannabis products are subject to
law enforcement.

On the Weeds website, a notice was posted Thursday notifying customers
of the police activity outside their Surrey location.

It also read: "Weeds needs your support to show taxpayers will not
support the misuse of public funds to restrict patient access to
cannabis, while more serious crimes could be attended to."

Below the message are several screengrabs from a security camera
showing RCMP officers posted outside the shop.

Jas Rehal, Surrey's bylaw manager, said the city intends to continue
cracking down on illegal dispensaries.

"Right now, it's illegal to have these dispensaries and until time
when the federal government actually changes these regulations ... our
bylaws will stay in place," said Rehal. "Once those changes happen in
Ottawa, we'll look at revising our bylaws accordingly."

Cannabis advocate Jodie Emery told Postmedia that a Cannabis Culture
store owned by her and husband Marc was raided Thursday in
Peterborough, Ont.

"So it's happening all across the country. I think it's because
they've (law enforcement) been bolstered by the federal government,
who has made it very clear that they intend for the law to continue,"
she said of the "very disturbing trend," noting that enforcement
seemed to be even "heavier" than the experience under the previous
Harper government.

But beyond the regulation of dispensaries, Emery hopes to see
decriminalization come first.

"I'd say that (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau and the Liberals
desperately need to stop arresting people, at least, for possession,"
she said. "For me, when it comes to the details of how to sell it -
whatever, we'll figure it out - but the No. 1 reason we should
legalize is to stop the criminalization of peaceful people."

Currently, marijuana can be prescribed for medicinal purposes in
Canada, but it remains illegal for recreational use.

Various municipalities have taken up their own stands on how to deal
with the many marijuana-related storefronts that have popped up in
recent years.

While Surrey passed zoning bylaws to prohibit all unlicensed marijuana
dispensaries, some municipalities, such as Vancouver, have opted to
regulate them.

When Vancouver's regulations went into effect in May, as many as 135
businesses were identified as being in contravention of bylaws, which
dictated that pot shops be in commercial zones, and be at least 300
metres away from schools, community centres, and other
dispensaries.

The federal government has promised it will table legislation in
spring 2017 to decriminalize marijuana.
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MAP posted-by: Matt