COMPASSION AT $10 A GRAM

Pot Shop; Lachine Club Not Aiding Sick, Neighbours Say

A recently opened "compassion centre" in Lachine that purports to
sell medical marijuana to the ill is sowing discord among neighbours
and local merchants who say it's attracting hordes of healthy-looking
young buyers.

"No one going into that place is in need of compassion," said the
owner of a business on Notre Dame St., around the corner from the
Culture 420 Compassion Centre on 15th Ave.

"They're running in and running out all the time.

"I wouldn't mind if it was legal, but it's so obvious it's not. I
mean, really, you have to go upstairs to get in. There isn't even
wheelchair access."

Merchants complain that buyers loiter in front of their stores,
deterring customers and taking parking spaces in a part of a borough
that's already economically depressed.

Using or growing marijuana for certain medical conditions has been
legal under federal law since 2001, but selling it is not. Compassion
club operators, however, say having patients go the legal route
through Health Canada to buy marijuana is difficult and can take
years, forcing many to suffer needlessly.

"We have something called a duty to provide for people's needs (for
therapeutic cannabis), and sometimes they're life-sustaining needs,"
Culture 420 co-founder Pavlos Papadakis said yesterday.

A steady stream of young men and the occasional woman flowed in and
out of the small office of two desks, a computer and a radio softly
playing heavy metal music this week as phones rang constantly. The 15
or so volunteers dispensed marijuana and advised customers in both
official languages how to become members.

The centre says it's a non-profit concern that donates any extra
funds to charity.

Open nearly three months, it already has 1,000 members. About 200
people come through a day, Papadakis said, although local merchants
said the volume is much higher on Fridays and Saturdays, and near the
end of the month, when welfare cheques arrive

"It got busy really fast," said one storeowner, who, like all the
merchants interviewed, asked to remain anonymous for fear of
reprisals. "At least they took the prices out of the window."

To be eligible to buy marijuana, applicants must submit a form signed
by a doctor attesting they have a condition or symptoms treatable
with cannabis - for example, pain from AIDS or arthritis. The centre
calls the doctor to verify, Papadakis said.

The club will also accept a written declaration that the applicant
suffers from chronic pain as long as it's sworn to and stamped by a
notary; Papadakis said Culture 420's lawyers have assured club
operators that makes it legal. The form is available on the club's
website. Local residents say there's a notary down the street willing
to sign it.

Business owners and neighbours have started at least two petitions
calling for the centre's ouster. The owners have tried to meet their
demands, hiring security to try to keep the streets clear, but
merchants say it hasn't helped. They discount Papadakis's claim
Culture 420 is bringing new customers to the area, saying it's a
clientele not interested in haircuts, pastries or flowers.

Others worry the centre, connected to a pastry shop and near a
daycare, could be the target of a firebombing by dope dealers who
don't appreciate competition. Culture 420 sells more than a dozen
varieties of marijuana - either cultivated onsite or purchased from
growers - for street-market prices of about $10 a gram.

Co-founder Gary Webber was the victim of a violent break-in at his
Dorval home in March. His assailants told him they were unhappy he
was selling in Lachine.

Culture 420 (the number is a popular code word for the cannabis
subculture) is one of two so-called compassion clubs in Montreal
operating in a legal grey zone. The other is the Compassion Club of
Montreal in the Plateau Mont Royal district; it has been open since
1999 and also has about 1,000 members. It requires medical
documentation for membership.

In 2002, a Quebec Court judge acquitted its president, Marc-Boris
St-Maurice, of drug trafficking while he volunteered at the
Compassion Club, which St-Maurice said meant he could continue to
provide the drug to suffering patients.

"Compassion clubs are illegal," Health Canada media adviser Stephane
Shank said in an email. "The only organization that can legally
supply marijuana seeds and dried marijuana is the government of Canada."

Police will turn a blind eye, however, to establishments seen to be
providing a legitimate service. But not all. A club in Toronto was
raided last week after complaints of alleged drug offences.

Lachine borough mayor Claude Dauphin said the borough and the police
- - whose station is half a block from Culture 420 - are looking at the
situation "very carefully."

"If it's a matter of compassion, we're in favour of that, but I don't
think it's a matter of compassion," he said. "I've seen kids between
15 and 20 years old going in there."

The borough will be issuing tickets because the centre hasn't
obtained a permit to occupy its current premises, which could also
lead to a court date. And police will be following up, Dauphin said.

The centre is trying to ease some of the tension by moving to a
larger building six blocks away, at the corner of Notre Dame St. and
9th Ave. with parking in back, Papadakis said. He vowed the centre
would not be closed without a legal fight.

"If they shut us down, 1,000 people who have a medical need would
have that taken away from them - which means their constitutional
rights of life, liberty and the spirit of the person would be
violated, and those rights are much greater than anybody's perceived
negative effects."

The Culture 420 Compassion Centre's website is www.culture420.com

HOW TO LEGALLY GET MEDICAL MARIJUANA FROM THE GOVERNMENT

A person who wishes to obtain an authorization to possess and/or a
licence to produce marijuana for medical purposes must apply to
Health Canada in writing. Once all the requirements of the Medical
Marijuana Access Regulations are met, including the requirement for
the signature of a physician, a person will be authorized to possess
and/or produce dried marijuana for medical purposes.

An authorized person has the following three options for obtaining a
supply of dried marijuana: accessing Health Canada's supply of dried
marijuana; obtaining a personal-use production licence to grow for
himself/herself; or obtaining a designated-person production licence
that designates another person to cultivate marijuana on their behalf.

As of Jan. 14, 2010, 4869 people hold an authorization to possess
dried marijuana under the MMAR in Canada.

For more information, visit: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/ marihuana/ Health Canada

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