MEDICINAL CANNABIS FOR SALE - QUESNEL OFFICE WILL JOIN PROVINCE-WIDE
'COMPASSION NETWORK'

QUESNEL MAY soon have its own compassion club for supplying marijuana
to medical users.

The club would dispense the drug at discount prices to patients with
a doctor's note explaining their illness.

Quesnel looks to be one of 10 spots in a "compassion network" of
clubs the B.C. Marijuana Party is setting up this year.

The disabled and those with life-threatening illnesses will
especially benefit from the non-profit service, says party president
Marc Emery.

Stephen Payne, the local marijuana party candidate, hopes to set up a
local office by the end of the year. The club may also offer massage
therapy and counseling.

While the rich can afford to buy pricey weed, the disabled and the
disadvantaged often live on a low income and are forced to buy small
quantities, which comes with a higher price tag, Emery says.

"We're not here to provide a convenience, we're here to provide a
necessity," says Emery, a millionaire activist who sells marijuana
seeds over the Internet and funds Pot TV and Cannabis Culture
magazine.

Prices will vary depending on quality, but should be somewhere
between $5 and $10 a gram.

What would sell for $40 on the street, compassion clubs will sell for
$30, Emery says.

The clubs are able to subsidize the drug by buying from growers in
large quantities, at about $2,800 a pound. Emery encourages clubs to
buy from local growers, which could bring the price down further.

The clubs will okay treatments with doctors and inspect growing
operations to ensure no sprays toxic substances are used.

The first phase of the network will be set up in September in
Vancouver, Nanaimo, Kamloops, Kelowna and Prince George.

In December the distribution network will expand to Prince Rupert,
Fort St. John, Revelstoke, Chilliwack, and Quesnel.

The clubs won't be entirely legal, because the paperwork required
makes running a legitimate operation nearly impossible, a marijuana
party spokesperson said.

The compassion network will lay the groundwork for the private
distribution of marijuana if the substance becomes legalized, Emery
says.

A related mail order service is due to start in October.

Some clubs will sell a spate of natural healing products. Some will
also run a delivery service for patients who have trouble getting
around or who lack a social circle.

Emery says distributors will give preferred access to the sickest
patients first.