Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
The dozens of pot dispensaries that have sprouted up in Vancouver over the last few years rely exclusively on illegal suppliers to keep their businesses going because they have no legal means of obtaining medical marijuana.
The Vancouver Police Department is operating under the assumption that many of the city's marijuana dispensaries are obtaining their pot from people with Health Canada licences to grow small amounts for personal use, said Sgt. Randy Fincham.
"Somehow, they're getting rid of their marijuana, and somehow the stores at the street level are obtaining their marijuana. The stores don't have a licence to buy and the homes don't have a licence to sell," Fincham said. "It appears that it's becoming a lucrative business arrangement."
The B.C. Compassion Club Society only gets its marijuana from trusted growers, said spokeswoman Jamie Shaw, but the arrangement is "not at all" legal.
"We've got exclusivity contracts with our growers so that everything they grow we purchase," she said.
"Most of them have been with us for almost the whole 18 years that we've been in operation."
The medical marijuana industry has changed drastically in the time the compassion club has existed, said Shaw, who is also president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries. There are about 60 unlicensed dispensaries in Vancouver now, up from just 12 in 2013.
"It's like any other business now. There are sales reps that go from store to store with their products," she said. "We don't deal with any of that."
Although the dispensary is operating outside the law, Shaw said the club has taken great pains to distance itself from organized crime.
"That's one of the reasons for the exclusivity contracts, basically to be sure that we're not contributing to the black market in any way."
Dana Larsen, the founding director of the Vancouver Medical Cannabis Dispensary, said his two locations source their marijuana from "mom and pop" growers – small-scale, home-based operations that can include people with Health Canada licences to grow for personal use.
"We don't really ask them necessarily if they're licensed or not. It's not legal to sell to us regardless, but it's not really legal for us to do what we do either," he said.
While Larsen said most growers approach the dispensary directly to offer their wares, he'd be surprised to learn that any were involved in large organized crime organizations because of the small quantities his business deals in.
Many medical marijuana dispensaries are doing their best, in the absence of government regulations, to regulate themselves and ensure they are getting a safe and reliable product, while others are not, said Zachary Walsh, a psychology professor at the University of B.C. who studies the effects of cannabis use. Without a legal framework, it is impossible to tell the good from the bad, he said.
"The big concern for me is ... it's not good to be providing resources to people who are doing something that's against the law, but really, how can we ensure that patients are getting the proper quality of cannabis if the chain of supply is not clear? It really highlights that we need to bring dispensaries into the Health Canada program so that we can ask questions about where are you getting your cannabis from," Walsh said.
"The dispensaries are not the bad guys in this. Dispensaries are putting themselves at risk and are making great efforts to provide an important medicine to Canadians who are in need and the courts have recognized that need as being a valid and legitimate one. So, it's not the dispensaries, it's what happens when you refuse to provide a framework for regulating a business."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Vancouver's medical marijuana dispensaries aren't getting pot legally
Author: Bethany Lindsay and Tara Carman
Contact: mgoodhand@edmontonjournal.com
Photo Credit: Arlen Redekop
Website: Edmonton Journal | Latest Breaking News | Business | Sports | Canada Daily News
The Vancouver Police Department is operating under the assumption that many of the city's marijuana dispensaries are obtaining their pot from people with Health Canada licences to grow small amounts for personal use, said Sgt. Randy Fincham.
"Somehow, they're getting rid of their marijuana, and somehow the stores at the street level are obtaining their marijuana. The stores don't have a licence to buy and the homes don't have a licence to sell," Fincham said. "It appears that it's becoming a lucrative business arrangement."
The B.C. Compassion Club Society only gets its marijuana from trusted growers, said spokeswoman Jamie Shaw, but the arrangement is "not at all" legal.
"We've got exclusivity contracts with our growers so that everything they grow we purchase," she said.
"Most of them have been with us for almost the whole 18 years that we've been in operation."
The medical marijuana industry has changed drastically in the time the compassion club has existed, said Shaw, who is also president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries. There are about 60 unlicensed dispensaries in Vancouver now, up from just 12 in 2013.
"It's like any other business now. There are sales reps that go from store to store with their products," she said. "We don't deal with any of that."
Although the dispensary is operating outside the law, Shaw said the club has taken great pains to distance itself from organized crime.
"That's one of the reasons for the exclusivity contracts, basically to be sure that we're not contributing to the black market in any way."
Dana Larsen, the founding director of the Vancouver Medical Cannabis Dispensary, said his two locations source their marijuana from "mom and pop" growers – small-scale, home-based operations that can include people with Health Canada licences to grow for personal use.
"We don't really ask them necessarily if they're licensed or not. It's not legal to sell to us regardless, but it's not really legal for us to do what we do either," he said.
While Larsen said most growers approach the dispensary directly to offer their wares, he'd be surprised to learn that any were involved in large organized crime organizations because of the small quantities his business deals in.
Many medical marijuana dispensaries are doing their best, in the absence of government regulations, to regulate themselves and ensure they are getting a safe and reliable product, while others are not, said Zachary Walsh, a psychology professor at the University of B.C. who studies the effects of cannabis use. Without a legal framework, it is impossible to tell the good from the bad, he said.
"The big concern for me is ... it's not good to be providing resources to people who are doing something that's against the law, but really, how can we ensure that patients are getting the proper quality of cannabis if the chain of supply is not clear? It really highlights that we need to bring dispensaries into the Health Canada program so that we can ask questions about where are you getting your cannabis from," Walsh said.
"The dispensaries are not the bad guys in this. Dispensaries are putting themselves at risk and are making great efforts to provide an important medicine to Canadians who are in need and the courts have recognized that need as being a valid and legitimate one. So, it's not the dispensaries, it's what happens when you refuse to provide a framework for regulating a business."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Vancouver's medical marijuana dispensaries aren't getting pot legally
Author: Bethany Lindsay and Tara Carman
Contact: mgoodhand@edmontonjournal.com
Photo Credit: Arlen Redekop
Website: Edmonton Journal | Latest Breaking News | Business | Sports | Canada Daily News
