Pubdate: Tue, 20 Jun 2017
Source: London Free Press (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 The London Free Press
Contact: http://www.lfpress.com/letters
Website: http://www.lfpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/243
Author: Dale Carruthers
Page: A3

POT SHOPS BACK - WITH LIMITS

Two Healing Health locations re-open after fire inspections but only
for existing buyers

Two London marijuana dispensaries are back in business after
temporarily closing this month following a visit from a fire
inspector, but neither of the pot shops are taking on new customers.

Healing Health Compassion stopped selling cannabis at its Dundas
Street store for several days - moving its inventory off site - and
closed its Wonderland Road location after a fire inspector visited the
Dundas shop June 4, prompting fears of a crackdown by city officials.

The inspector found some violations during the walk-through of the
commercial building at 1472 Dundas St.

"The infractions noted were minor in nature," fire inspector Wendy
Cowdrey wrote in an email, adding they must be addressed within 30
days.

Both Healing Health locations are now operating, but they're serving
only customers who are already registered with the business.

"No new signups until further notice. Sorry for inconvenience," said
hand-written signs posted on the doors of both shops.

The unexpected closure of the dispensaries left hundreds of customers,
many of them medicinal marijuana users who've turned to the illegal
pot shops because they're fed up with the government-approved licensed
producers, worried about where they'd buy their cannabis.

The number of registered medicinal marijuana users in Canada ballooned
to 129,876 by the end of last year, more than tripling from one year
earlier, according to the latest statistics published by Health
Canada, the federal agency that requires the users to order
prescription pot by mail from its 45 approved producers.

But legions of these pot patients, who've been prescribed cannabis
products to treat everything from glaucoma to depression, say the
licensed producers frequently run out of inventory, take too much time
to ship and require minimum purchases.

Four storefront dispensaries remain open in London following a
co-ordinated crackdown by police in March that led to drug trafficking
charges laid against eight people and the seizure of $170,000 worth of
cannabis products.

The federal Liberals announced in April that new laws would be in
place by July 1, 2018, to make possession and cultivation of small
amounts of marijuana for personal use legal for people 18 years of age
or older.

The existing program for access to medical marijuana would continue,
the Liberals say.
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MAP posted-by: Matt