Government Approved Headache

If Canada'S Medicinal Marijuana Carried A Warning Of Side Effects, It
Might Read Something Like This. Warning: May Cause Home Invasions.
Can Lead To Newspaper Headlines. Unintended Consequences May Develop.
The Mayors Of Both Langleys And The Local RCMP Commander Have Called
For An End To Licensed Home-Based Pot Growing Operations, Complaining
The Growth In Medicinal Marijuana Growing Permits Is Out Of Control.
This Comes In The Wake Of Reports About Three Robberies Of Legal
Licenced Growing Operations In Langley Over The Last Six Months.
Homes In Brookswood, Fernridge And Willoughby Were Hit By Criminals
Looking To Convert The Legal Non-Profit Product Into Something Less
Legal And Presumably Pricier. RCMP Complain They Don'T Know Where The
Legal Grow Ops Are Until Someone Robs Them. In One Case, At Least, A
Grow Op Was Located Within Close Proximity Of A Langley Elementary
School. It'S Probably Safe To Say This Wasn'T What The Federal
Government Had In Mind When It Agreed, !
Reluctantly, To Allow The Use Of Marijuana For Medical Purposes. Pot
Has Been Shown To Help Cancer Patients Control The Nausea Induced By
Chemotherapy, Reduce Internal Pressure In Glaucoma Cases And
Stimulate Appetite In Patients With AIDS Among Other Things. Allowing
Its Limited Use In Such Cases Under A Doctor'S Supervision Seemed To
Make Sense. But What Has Resulted Seems Less And Less Like Limited
Use. In One Year, The Number Of Growing Permits In B.C. Alone Has
More Than Doubled. During The Same Period, The Number Of Legal Users
Has Grown Even More, With More Than 13 Times As Many People. If The
Use Of Private Legal Marijuana Grow Ops Is Going To Continue, It Is
Going To Have To Be Better Regulated. Letting Police And Local
Authorities Know Where They Are Located Would Be A Good Start.
Limiting Their Numbers Could Be Another. There Are Now Nearly As Many
People Permitted To Grow Marijuana For Their Own Use Or For Others
(2,585) As There Are Licenced Users In B.C. (2,99!
5). Do We Really Need That Many?