COMPASSION CENTRE OFFERS MARIJUANA PRODUCTS FOR MEDICALLY-APPROVED USERS

Nanaimo's new Organic Matters Compassionate Access Centre for medical
marijuana offers a variety of products; including cookies, oils, skin
creams and even chocolates laced with pot.

But the Wallace Street business isn't open to your average pot head.

Customers have to have the written recommendation of a doctor and a
user licence from Health Canada before they can shop at the store.

It's the latest attempt to set up a medicinal marijuana operation in
Nanaimo and the mid-Island region after unsuccessful attempts in the past.

Owner Bob Estes, who recently moved his shop to Nanaimo from
Errington, said he decided to change locations mainly because his
clients weren't receiving the support of doctors in the Errington area.

Estes said most of his clients were from Nanaimo anyway, and he has
seen their numbers jump from just 32 to more than 120 since he moved downtown.

But Nanaimo RCMP Constable Gary O'Brien said there are only a limited
number of dealers who have been authorized and licensed by Health
Canada to legally distribute pot, and he is checking on whether this
business is one of them.

"Several doctors in the Nanaimo area have begun sending people to us
if their family physicians aren't meeting their medical needs," said
Estes, who also regularly uses medical marijuana after a farm
accident 22 years ago.

"We're the only medical access centre operating north of Victoria on
the Island, and we're the only one that offers 100% organic products."

The Mid-Island Compassion Society was established in Nanaimo in 2008
to provide medicinal marijuana to licensed users in the region, but
lasted just one year.

Estes said he has established a network of organic pot growers, most
of whom are legally growing medicinal marijuana with licences from
Health Canada, to provide his inventory.

He acknowledged that his acquisition of the marijuana from his
suppliers is still a "legally grey area," but he's encouraged with
the ruling of the Supreme Court of Ontario last month that the
medicinal marijuana laws around access to the drug are
unconstitutional. The court has given the province 90 days to rewrite the laws.

"The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows us to function
because it guarantees citizens the right to liberty and health so
marijuana as a medicine is a right for some people. It's a long legal
process and we've been taking baby steps over the years," Estes said.