Police turn blind eye to marijuana for the sick: Officers would only
act if people were supplying children or selling drugs for a profit.

By: Lindsay Kines

Vancouver city police have little interest in groups such as the
Compassion Club, which distribute marijuana for medicinal purposes,
media liaison Constable Anne Drennan said Monday.

She said investigators would only be concerned if, for example, they
received information the club was supplying children or perhaps
selling the drugs for other than medicinal needs.

``If there doesn't appear to be anything else going on other than
the medicinal aspects then we're really not interested. It doesn't
cause us any kind of concern.''

The Vancouver Sun reported Saturday that members of a group called the
Compassion Club have been quietly breaking the law for months by
distributing marijuana for free or at reduced rates to sick people in
the Lower Mainland.

A woman who heads the club said she has been unable to keep pace with
the growing demand.

She said the club, located on West Pender and listed with directory
assistance, currently supplies about 100 people.

Drennan said the Vancouver police drug squad is aware of the
Compassion Club and other groups like it.

And she said investigators monitor the clubs' activities, but consider
them a low priority.

``As long as there have been controls and no problems surrounding
these groups, we have never focused on or taken issue with medicinal
marijuana groups,'' she said.

Instead, police investigators concentrate their efforts on busting
marijuana grow operations and drug traffickers, Drennan said.

The Compassion Club gives away marijuana to people who are very sick,
and sells it to those who can afford to pay at the cost charged by
growers.

Those wishing to receive the drug from the club are asked to provide a
signed note from their doctor indicating the person might benefit from
marijuana for medicinal purposes.

As well, people who contact the Canadian Cancer Society or the B.C.
Cancer Agency about ``medicinal marijuana'' are issued a fact sheet
saying marijuana has been useful in controlling nausea and vomiting
due to chemotherapy in some patients.

The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada's B.C. division also
distributes a fact sheet, noting some of its benefits but also some of
its negative side effects.