SENATORS PAY A VISIT TO THE COMPASSION CLUB

Trip To Medical Marijuana Society Part Of A Look Into Drug Culture.

The sweet smell of marijuana smoke and freshly-cut buds greeted four
Canadian senators Thursday when they entered the Vancouver Compassion
Club on Commercial Drive.

Hilary Black, the founder of the non-profit society which has been
dispensing the illegal drug from local offices and storefronts for
more than four years, said that, to her knowledge, it was the first
time elected official -- city, provincial or federal -- has walked
through those doors.

City licence inspectors come in "to give us a hard time," said Black,
but "this is a first positive visit with any kind of politician."

For the first half hour, the Senate special committee on illegal
drugs had a private tour and discussion with staff members at The
Wellness Centre, a $100,000-a-year clinic subsidized by marijuana
sales. Behind a waiting room filled with tropical house plants --
species not mentioned by the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances
Act -- there are private rooms where people are given alternatives
therapies like acupuncture, Reiki and Bach flower remedies. Club
members pay anywhere from $3 to $30 per visit, but club policy is
that no one is turned away for lack of funds.

Senators got their first whiff of B.C. Bud at The Distribution
Centre, the adjacent storefront at 2995 Commercial where the society
says it gives out "medicinal cannabis" to people with serious
illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, cancer and HIV/AIDs.

The Compassion Club invited The Vancouver Sun and the CBC to
accompany the senators on that portion of the tour, which lasted
about 40 minutes.

The visitors grinned when they saw "today's menu" posted on the wall inside.

It featured different strains of marijuana. with names like Time
Warp, Purple Pine Berry and Skunk #1, selling for between $7 and $10
gram, enough for about three joints.

Marijuana-based "Weedies" cookies were selling for $2 apiece, or $5 for three.

B.C. Senator Pat Carney didn't sample any of the wares there, but she
did ask a Compassion Club staffer a series of questions about how
marijuana is dispensed, or whether someone has overdosed. (He told
her that users usually sleep it off if they use too much, and it
shouldn't be combined with other drugs.)

"You can't major in cannabis," Carney noted later. "How do you ensure
that the people delivering this service are qualified to assess their
customers, or aid them if they get into difficulties?"

Carney said she has fibromyalgia, a condition that mostly afflicts
women, causing symptoms that include muscle aches, fatigue and
sleeping problems. It's one of the ailments that cannabis advocates
say can be treated with marijuana.

Carney gave herself some wriggle room when a reporter asked whether
she was considering using marijuana.

"Not at the present time," the former Progressive Conservative
cabinet minister replied. "I'm not saying I wouldn't do it, but right
now I self-medicate through a very active aquatic program, which
works for me."

She also wouldn't say whether she wanted marijuana compassion clubs
legalized -- "that's what we're here to investigate" -- but did note
the Vancouver Compassion Club has operated for more than four years,
"if not under the protection of the police, at least with the
knowledge and assistance of police."

Each month, the club distributes about 18 kilograms or 40 pounds of marijuana .

On Wednesday, the commanding officer of the Vancouver police
department's drug section told the Senate committee that, for all
practical purposes, city police have stopped arresting people for
possession of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and so-called designer drugs.

Inspector Kash Keen also said the federal government should consider
removing legal sanctions against marijuana.

At the Commercial Drive storefront, there was no attempt to hide the
big bags of marijuana leaf on the dispensing counter, or the living
marijuana plants in pots. No one was seen smoking marijuana during
the politicians' visit, but the air purifying machine near the front
window didn't mask the smell of smoked marijuana emanating from the
Smoking Room, where a 1960s-style black light poster graces the wall.
Tobacco smoking is prohibited in that room, but marijuana smoking is
permitted for club members, 28 staff members and "primary care
givers" who help roll or hold a joint.

The senators listened quietly as marijuana users -- including one
woman in a wheelchair with multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy --
but at least one senator didn't approach the illegal drug too closely.

"I'm not uncomfortable, but it's not an environment I'm used to,"
said Canadian Alliance Senator Gerry St. Germain, a former RCMP
officer who worked in Vancouver in 1966. "In my previous life, it was
treated differently."

However, St. Germain confirmed that, even in the 1960s, police
selectively enforced the law against marijuana possession.

"Generally, there was an extenuating circumstance -- an unruly
situation that went with it," he said.

St. Germain said he had no regrets: "My job was to enforce the law.
Now, I'm one of the legislators . . ."

Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin, who chairs the Senate committee, said
the people at the Compassion Club were getting marijuana for medical
reasons, and he didn't see any drug trafficking.

Nolin said marijuana possession is illegal in Canada "because
Parliament decided it is illegal, and its our job to question the
laws. Nothing is carved in stone forever."