224 BONG STORE IS NOT DOING ANYTHING WRONG

Editor:

Re: District dismisses bong storeowner's charge of discrimination,
TIMES, Sept. 19

While the city may not be discriminating against Dave Singh based on
race, they are discriminating against the products that he wishes to
sell. They are only citing the parts of the Criminal Code that they
wish to read - those that make it sound like the Hemporium is
breaking some sort of law.

Obviously I can't say for sure if this is due to incompetence or convenience.

If it were simply an honest mistake, I find it quite scary that the
management of our city can pass judgment citing only a portion of
laws. I believe anyone in charge of a department such as the bylaw
department or a part of city council should be somewhat adept at
reading bylaws.

If it were for a simple matter of convenience to quickly sweep the
matter under the rug then I would hope this sort of blatant disregard
for due process would cause some changes at city hall.

Either way, this should give voters some serious food for thought for
the upcoming civic election.

The Criminal Code of Canada does address drug paraphernalia, under
section 462.2 which reads: Everyone who knowingly imports into
Canada, exports from Canada, manufactures, promotes or sells
instruments or literature for illicit drug use is guilty of an
offense and liable on summary conviction.

It then goes on to list the specific penalties that may be handed out.

Handily in section 462.1 of the code they define exactly what
constitutes an "instrument for illicit drug use" which "means
anything designed primarily or intended under the circumstances for
consuming or to facilitate the consumption of an illicit drug, but
does not include a "device" as that term is defined in section 2 of
the Food and Drug Act."

That obviously means a little extra reading is needed to see what a
"device" is before one can pass judgment on the so-called "drug
paraphernalia" of the Hemporium. I actually took the time to do that
reading, unlike city council or the bylaw department. This is what
the Food and Drug Act says: "device" means any article, instrument,
apparatus or contrivance, including any component, part or accessory
thereof, manufactured, sold or represented for use in:

(a) the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of a disease,
disorder or abnormal physical state, or its symptoms, in human being
or animals,

(b) restoring, correcting or modifying a body function or the body
structure of human beings or animals,

(c) the diagnosis of pregnancy in human beings or animals, or

(d) the care of human beings or animals during pregnancy and at and
after birth of the offspring, including care of the offspring, and
includes a contraceptive device but does not include a drug.

As the use of marijuana is an accepted practice for the treatment of
many disorders, clearly any device used to consume it for such
medical purposes is specifically excluded from the Criminal Code of
Canada. After all, there are even "Marihuana Medical Access
Regulations" specifically designated to cover this practice.

Now what makes the city think they can contradict the Criminal Code of Canada?

Rob Gagne, owner, Let the Games Begin Maple Ridge