91原创 police say they won鈥檛 bust down the doors of the city鈥檚 many illegal medical marijuana dispensaries April 1 when a new federal law will delegate weed production and distribution to a handful of licensed premises.
Coun. Kerry Jang 鈥� who closely watches health issues 鈥� minced no words, saying the city believes the federal law interferes with the right of people to access medicine. As a result, the city won鈥檛 make any extraordinary efforts to shut down 鈥減rofessionally run鈥� medical marijuana dispensaries, even though most operate without city business licenses.
鈥淚t really is about access to medication, and the rules under the new federal law would essentially block people from getting their medication,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e just don鈥檛 see these dispensaries as something we need to shut down, as long as they are only providing marijuana to people who medically need it.鈥�
The city鈥檚 position is being hailed by medical marijuana dispensary operators as a reasoned response to a new federal law they believe will force the production of medical marijuana underground.
The 91原创 Police Department said it is aware of at least 29 illegal medical marijuana dispensaries in the city but doesn鈥檛 raid them as long as they are only selling to people who have a medical marijuana permit.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think for now there is any plan to change the current drug policy that is in place to fit specifically with these changes,鈥� said Const. Brian Montague. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have plans for massive raids on April 2nd.鈥�
Jang said the city doesn鈥檛 have a business licence geared for dispensaries, in part because of what he said were confusing Health Canada rules.
This isn鈥檛 the first time the city has defied the federal government on the issue of illegal drugs and how they affect society. 91原创 was the first city in Canada to adopt a 鈥渇our pillars鈥� approach to harm reduction around drug use, including a law enforcement policy that focuses on public safety and street disorder rather than busting people for simple possession.
Under successive councils since 2003, the city has defended the establishment of Insite, a needle exchange program in the Downtown Eastside that has helped curb HIV infection rates and overdoses. The facility won a 2011 Supreme Court ruling which found that Ottawa鈥檚 attempt to close it threatened to undermine the health, safety and rights of addicts.
Health Canada says the marijuana dispensaries represent a public safety issue because they are both illegal and unregulated.
But the police who enforce drug laws in 91原创 disagree. Montague said police have shut down three medical marijuana dispensaries in recent years that were found to be fronts for trafficking. But the dispensaries now in business don鈥檛 appear to be doing that, he said.
鈥淭he dispensaries all operate differently, but some of them you go into and it鈥檚 like walking into a medical clinic,鈥� he said. 鈥淓verybody is wearing lab coats and somebody comes in with their license to possess marijuana medically, and they sell them the marijuana and it is like filling a prescription at your local pharmacy.鈥�
Montague said police need to put their scarce resources toward public safety and reducing street disorder, not go after dispensaries that are providing medicine to people.
鈥淔rom our policy and our perspective, if these places are operating in a professional, safe manner 鈥� and obviously the criminal element of the sale of marijuana is illegal 鈥� and if there is no additional element that would cause us concern for public safety, then we use our discretion not to enforce certain drug laws,鈥� he said.
The city鈥檚 position on medical marijuana dispensaries comes as new information from Health Canada suggests that B.C. accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the more than three million marijuana plants authorized for production in Canada. Under the new law, Stephen Harper鈥檚 Conservative government will require the country鈥檚 22,000 producers to stop production and force patients to buy their weed directly from a small number of licensed growers.
The law would not allow the commercial licensed growers to sell anything other than dried marijuana, even though many patients want or require weed extracts, tinctures and oils, claiming they are more effective.
A group of B.C. patients are suing Health Canada, arguing the changes will result in severe shortages of pot, higher prices, and will violate their constitutional rights.
Health Canada has countered in court documents that the current Medical Marijuana Access Regulations were never intended to permit the growth of an industry. The system came into place in 2001 with 85 permits; in 2013, more than 29,719 personal use permits were issued. Health Canada projects that by 2024 there will be 450,000 recognized users, creating a taxable industry with potential annual revenues of $1.3 billion.
Adam Greenblatt, the director and co-founder of the 91原创 Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries, applauded 91原创鈥檚 position.
鈥淭he 91原创 Police Department and the city council have a very progressive and intelligent approach to cannabis that should be replicated in cities across Canada,鈥� he said. 鈥淢arijuana is essentially decriminalized in the city of 91原创. The unlicensed medical suppliers, the dispensaries, are even less of a priority.鈥�
That view, he acknowledged, is not shared elsewhere in the country. In Montreal, Greenblatt is planning to shut down his dispensary and transition his customers over to licensed commercial grow operations.
鈥淭here is divergence in the dispensary community, and 91原创 is a special place for dispensaries,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 have observed there is more of a compliance with the (new regulations) on the east coast and not so much on the west coast.鈥�
Dana Larsen, the director of 91原创鈥檚 Medicinal Cannabis Dispensary and leader of the Sensible B.C. decriminalization campaign, said dispensaries aren鈥檛 worried about the April 1 deadline.
鈥淣ot for us in 91原创, no. We are already in a grey area of the law and that area doesn鈥檛 get any different shade of grey come April 1,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 am sure people will continue growing marijuana after the law is passed. People have been growing marijuana in B.C. for decades.鈥�
Larsen said a few dispensaries operate with city business licences, likely as health food stores. He said his shop on East Hastings doesn鈥檛 have a business licence but the city has never shown any concern because it operates professionally and won鈥檛 sell weed to anyone who doesn鈥檛 have a medical permit or a doctor鈥檚 note.
Larsen said Canada has a lot to thank dispensaries for.
鈥淔rom my perspective, if we had not had dispensaries out there doing what they have been doing, we would not have this medical marijuana situation we have now. Dispensaries led the way and broke the trial for medical marijuana use as medicine,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t is because of the sacrifices and bravery of dispensary operators that we now have medical marijuana system in Canada.鈥�
Those producers now seeking Health Canada permits say they are not concerned about 91原创鈥檚 illegal dispensaries. Anton Mattadeen, the chief strategy officer for MediJean, which has received preliminary approval to produce 90,000 kilograms of weed the first year at a new facility in Richmond, said there is no shortage of demand.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 see it will have an impact, and the reason I don鈥檛 is because from all of our research this is a very, very big market. We will be servicing 91原创s across the breadth of the country,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he 91原创 market represents one specific area.鈥�
But Mattadeen also believes patients will judge dispensaries for themselves. 鈥淚t is one thing to say that their product has the best quality. It is quite another to have to go through the quality checks, and from what I can see this is something dispensaries do not go through today.鈥�
