Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
After 10 Years, Philippe Lucas Leaving Medical-Marijuana Supplier
Aside from the pungent odour of fresh marijuana in the air, the Vancouver Island Compassion Society's Cormorant Street office has the feel of any other medical clinic.
"I've been doing this for so long I don't even notice it any more," says Philippe Lucas, of the sweet aroma that permeates all four rooms in the office.
Lucas is both founder and, for 10 years, executive director of the non-profit society, which sells marijuana to those in medical need. But Lucas, who also serves as a Victoria city councillor, no longer has the time and is now passing the bong, as it were, to Steve Roberts, the society's day manager for the past two years.
From the office, marijuana is sold to members in its regular bud form -- along with rolling papers and glass pipes. But for those who don't want to smoke, it's available in cookies and an oral spray, both made in house.
"We're the Keebler elves of cannabis," Lucas jokes.
Clients know what they are buying because the strains are specified. Indicas are better for those with chronic pain conditions and people with anxiety or stress.
Sativas are more energetic, good for daytime use and appetite stimulation.
With five full-time and one part-time employee serving more than 960 registered members, the society is well established in Victoria. But despite a national and even international profile, it operates somewhat in the shadows -- tolerated by authorities but technically not legal.
Members must produce recommendations from their doctors to register, though they usually don't go through the rigorous process established through the federal government program. Plus, Health Canada has never licensed any organization in the country to distribute medical cannabis.
Clients have been stopped by police leaving the facility, but Lucas and his staff make a point of following up those incidents, he said.
"I think we're able to operate here because we take our work very seriously. We have a very good relationship with the Victoria Police Department," Lucas said.
"All of our members sign contracts saying they won't distribute the product that they purchase here, and when we've seen violations of that contract, we act immediately."
There are also standing rules that no marijuana is smoked on the premises during business hours, he said.
"This isn't a place where people come in and use. If every time our door opened there was puffs of smoke coming out, we would have more concerns from our local police."
Victoria police are aware of the compassion society's activities, but there are no complaints, so enforcement is not a high priority, said spokesman Sgt. Grant Hamilton.
"We would never condone illegal activity there," he said.
"We plan our policing priorities around what's the most concern to our taxpayers and ... a concern about the compassion club has not been highlighted."
Over the past decade, the operation has survived two major court battles.
In 2002, Lucas pleaded guilty to possession of less than three kilograms of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, but received an absolute discharge.
That case stemmed from a break-in at the society's offices in which a kilo of pot was stolen. Lucas reported the break-in to police. When the marijuana was recovered and he claimed ownership, he was charged.
In giving Lucas an absolute discharge, Judge Robert Higinbotham said he had become an important resource both in Canada and locally on the issue of the medicinal use of marijuana.
"He has consulted with, and influenced, both federal cabinet ministers and local city councillors," Higinbotham said.
In 2004, RCMP raided a society-run grow operation in East Sooke, seizing about 960 plants. After a five-year legal battle that cost the society about $250,000, the B.C. Supreme Court struck down Health Canada regulations that said a licensed marijuana grower can only supply a single client and that barred growers from pooling their resources. The individual tending the East Sooke grow operation was given an absolute discharge.
The irony of that raid, says Lucas, was that the grow operation, known as the Vancouver Island Therapeutic Cannabis Research Institute, was started after the first court case because of the society's desire to get off the black market.
"We wanted to lower the prices to our patients and we wanted to produce a supply that would be useful for clinical trials ... The tragedy is that within about five hours, we lost about five years of strain research that we'd done. We were developing strains that were specific to certain symptoms," Lucas said.
The society now gets its supply from five or six devoted growers who grow organically and exclusively for the society.
While many consider B.C. to have progressive views on drug use, Lucas notes the province has more police-reported drug arrests than any other province in Canada, and Victoria has the second-highest number of police-reported drug arrests in all of Canada.
Lucas is himself a medical marijuana user, having contracted hepatitis C at age 12 through a post-surgical blood transfusion. He found out about his illness only when he was screened to work as a child-care worker.
"I think what we've been able to do here at the Vancouver Island Compassion Society in many ways is [to] make medical marijuana safe for the people of Victoria. I think that they understand what we do."
But, he says, there is still work to do. Canadian laws that require doctors to fill out a 33-page application in order to certify patients for medical-marijuana use and thereby protect them from prosecution are far too onerous, he said.
"My ultimate goal of medical-marijuana access would be simple.
"Let's just normalize it so that a doctor's recommendation for the use of cannabis, which is exactly what all our members have, should absolutely be enough to offer the legal protection to patients."
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Times Colonist
Contact: Letters To The Editor | Victoria Times Colonist
Website: Victoria Times Colonist - Vancouver Island breaking news, sports, arts, culture, opinion, multimedia
Author: Bill Cleverley
Aside from the pungent odour of fresh marijuana in the air, the Vancouver Island Compassion Society's Cormorant Street office has the feel of any other medical clinic.
"I've been doing this for so long I don't even notice it any more," says Philippe Lucas, of the sweet aroma that permeates all four rooms in the office.
Lucas is both founder and, for 10 years, executive director of the non-profit society, which sells marijuana to those in medical need. But Lucas, who also serves as a Victoria city councillor, no longer has the time and is now passing the bong, as it were, to Steve Roberts, the society's day manager for the past two years.
From the office, marijuana is sold to members in its regular bud form -- along with rolling papers and glass pipes. But for those who don't want to smoke, it's available in cookies and an oral spray, both made in house.
"We're the Keebler elves of cannabis," Lucas jokes.
Clients know what they are buying because the strains are specified. Indicas are better for those with chronic pain conditions and people with anxiety or stress.
Sativas are more energetic, good for daytime use and appetite stimulation.
With five full-time and one part-time employee serving more than 960 registered members, the society is well established in Victoria. But despite a national and even international profile, it operates somewhat in the shadows -- tolerated by authorities but technically not legal.
Members must produce recommendations from their doctors to register, though they usually don't go through the rigorous process established through the federal government program. Plus, Health Canada has never licensed any organization in the country to distribute medical cannabis.
Clients have been stopped by police leaving the facility, but Lucas and his staff make a point of following up those incidents, he said.
"I think we're able to operate here because we take our work very seriously. We have a very good relationship with the Victoria Police Department," Lucas said.
"All of our members sign contracts saying they won't distribute the product that they purchase here, and when we've seen violations of that contract, we act immediately."
There are also standing rules that no marijuana is smoked on the premises during business hours, he said.
"This isn't a place where people come in and use. If every time our door opened there was puffs of smoke coming out, we would have more concerns from our local police."
Victoria police are aware of the compassion society's activities, but there are no complaints, so enforcement is not a high priority, said spokesman Sgt. Grant Hamilton.
"We would never condone illegal activity there," he said.
"We plan our policing priorities around what's the most concern to our taxpayers and ... a concern about the compassion club has not been highlighted."
Over the past decade, the operation has survived two major court battles.
In 2002, Lucas pleaded guilty to possession of less than three kilograms of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, but received an absolute discharge.
That case stemmed from a break-in at the society's offices in which a kilo of pot was stolen. Lucas reported the break-in to police. When the marijuana was recovered and he claimed ownership, he was charged.
In giving Lucas an absolute discharge, Judge Robert Higinbotham said he had become an important resource both in Canada and locally on the issue of the medicinal use of marijuana.
"He has consulted with, and influenced, both federal cabinet ministers and local city councillors," Higinbotham said.
In 2004, RCMP raided a society-run grow operation in East Sooke, seizing about 960 plants. After a five-year legal battle that cost the society about $250,000, the B.C. Supreme Court struck down Health Canada regulations that said a licensed marijuana grower can only supply a single client and that barred growers from pooling their resources. The individual tending the East Sooke grow operation was given an absolute discharge.
The irony of that raid, says Lucas, was that the grow operation, known as the Vancouver Island Therapeutic Cannabis Research Institute, was started after the first court case because of the society's desire to get off the black market.
"We wanted to lower the prices to our patients and we wanted to produce a supply that would be useful for clinical trials ... The tragedy is that within about five hours, we lost about five years of strain research that we'd done. We were developing strains that were specific to certain symptoms," Lucas said.
The society now gets its supply from five or six devoted growers who grow organically and exclusively for the society.
While many consider B.C. to have progressive views on drug use, Lucas notes the province has more police-reported drug arrests than any other province in Canada, and Victoria has the second-highest number of police-reported drug arrests in all of Canada.
Lucas is himself a medical marijuana user, having contracted hepatitis C at age 12 through a post-surgical blood transfusion. He found out about his illness only when he was screened to work as a child-care worker.
"I think what we've been able to do here at the Vancouver Island Compassion Society in many ways is [to] make medical marijuana safe for the people of Victoria. I think that they understand what we do."
But, he says, there is still work to do. Canadian laws that require doctors to fill out a 33-page application in order to certify patients for medical-marijuana use and thereby protect them from prosecution are far too onerous, he said.
"My ultimate goal of medical-marijuana access would be simple.
"Let's just normalize it so that a doctor's recommendation for the use of cannabis, which is exactly what all our members have, should absolutely be enough to offer the legal protection to patients."
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Times Colonist
Contact: Letters To The Editor | Victoria Times Colonist
Website: Victoria Times Colonist - Vancouver Island breaking news, sports, arts, culture, opinion, multimedia
Author: Bill Cleverley
