Truth Seeker
New Member
Some 140 members of a compassion club that opened two months ago in Maillardville will have to go elsewhere to buy medical marijuana.
This week, Coquitlam city council outlawed the Coquitlam Natural Path Society (CNPS) from operating its unlicensed dispensary on Brunette Avenue.
As well, city council unanimously voted to ban medical marijuana growers from residential areas – unless they are producing small amounts for themselves.
Now, third-party growers will have to harvest in one of five south Coquitlam industrial sites, by Highway 1, as selected by city managers.
The move came late Monday after an emotional public hearing that saw seven speakers oppose the zoning bylaw change and three people supporting it.
Coun. Linda Reimer said the city had also received a number of letters and emails from "concerned citizens" wanting pot ops gone.
"Shame. You guys are dinosaurs," shouted Coquitlam's Mark Klokeid, president of iMedikate Dispensary Society in Vancouver and a CNPS director, while walking out of council chambers following council's decision.
Later, CNPS spokesperson Christopher MacLeod told The Tri-City News he, too, was disappointed with council. He is more than $10,000 out of pocket after setting up the business that provided specific marijuana strains to patients with ailments such as cancer, digestion disorders and arthritis, which he has.
"I'll have to go back to the board members and see what happens next," he said with a shrug, noting his clients may be forced to purchase pot from the street "laced with God knows what."
During the two-hour hearing, MacLeod had pleaded with council to help him stay within the law for dispensing medical weed – a practice that's not regulated by Health Canada, unlike third-party growers who can be licensed under Marijuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR).
That so-called legal grey area for compassion clubs didn't sit well with Coquitlam councillors who – although sympathetic with MacLeod and his clients with doctors' notes and MMAR exemptions – repeated MacLeod's words of calling his trade "civil disobedience."
"There's a veneer of legitimacy but it's very thin," Coun. Terry O'Neill said. "You can't expect city council to join the march arm-in-arm. There's no way we can responsibly sanction this even though we believe the law should be changed."
Coun. Mae Reid said many cities "are between a rock and a hard place": federal laws allow medical marijuana operations and are slow to act on dispensaries; as a result, the municipalities' only tool is land-use control.
As for residential medical marijuana grows, Coun. Craig Hodge said many homeowners on Burke Mountain, where he lives, have signed petitions to call for council to prohibit them for fear of safety.
Decreased property values, noxious odours and dangers for emergency personnel were other reasons for the ban, opponents said at the hearing, which was witnessed by Coquitlam RCMP.
At Mayor Richard Stewart's suggestion, city council voted to write a letter to the federal government to lobby for changes on the regulation and distribution of medical marijuana.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: tricitynews.com
Author: The Tri-City News
Contact: The Tri-City News - Contact Us
Website: The Tri-City News - Compassion clubs banned in Coquitlam
This week, Coquitlam city council outlawed the Coquitlam Natural Path Society (CNPS) from operating its unlicensed dispensary on Brunette Avenue.
As well, city council unanimously voted to ban medical marijuana growers from residential areas – unless they are producing small amounts for themselves.
Now, third-party growers will have to harvest in one of five south Coquitlam industrial sites, by Highway 1, as selected by city managers.
The move came late Monday after an emotional public hearing that saw seven speakers oppose the zoning bylaw change and three people supporting it.
Coun. Linda Reimer said the city had also received a number of letters and emails from "concerned citizens" wanting pot ops gone.
"Shame. You guys are dinosaurs," shouted Coquitlam's Mark Klokeid, president of iMedikate Dispensary Society in Vancouver and a CNPS director, while walking out of council chambers following council's decision.
Later, CNPS spokesperson Christopher MacLeod told The Tri-City News he, too, was disappointed with council. He is more than $10,000 out of pocket after setting up the business that provided specific marijuana strains to patients with ailments such as cancer, digestion disorders and arthritis, which he has.
"I'll have to go back to the board members and see what happens next," he said with a shrug, noting his clients may be forced to purchase pot from the street "laced with God knows what."
During the two-hour hearing, MacLeod had pleaded with council to help him stay within the law for dispensing medical weed – a practice that's not regulated by Health Canada, unlike third-party growers who can be licensed under Marijuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR).
That so-called legal grey area for compassion clubs didn't sit well with Coquitlam councillors who – although sympathetic with MacLeod and his clients with doctors' notes and MMAR exemptions – repeated MacLeod's words of calling his trade "civil disobedience."
"There's a veneer of legitimacy but it's very thin," Coun. Terry O'Neill said. "You can't expect city council to join the march arm-in-arm. There's no way we can responsibly sanction this even though we believe the law should be changed."
Coun. Mae Reid said many cities "are between a rock and a hard place": federal laws allow medical marijuana operations and are slow to act on dispensaries; as a result, the municipalities' only tool is land-use control.
As for residential medical marijuana grows, Coun. Craig Hodge said many homeowners on Burke Mountain, where he lives, have signed petitions to call for council to prohibit them for fear of safety.
Decreased property values, noxious odours and dangers for emergency personnel were other reasons for the ban, opponents said at the hearing, which was witnessed by Coquitlam RCMP.
At Mayor Richard Stewart's suggestion, city council voted to write a letter to the federal government to lobby for changes on the regulation and distribution of medical marijuana.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: tricitynews.com
Author: The Tri-City News
Contact: The Tri-City News - Contact Us
Website: The Tri-City News - Compassion clubs banned in Coquitlam
