ACTIVISTS ESTABLISH REGULATOR FOR DISPENSARIES

Francois Arcand says he doesn't want gravely ill people to think of
medical marijuana as their last hope because of all the red tape that
surrounds it.

The 42-year-old had to first find a doctor who would help him get a
Health Canada licence to use marijuana to ease his epilepsy. Then he
waited a year for approval.

Meanwhile, the Ottawa man found quicker and more personalized relief
at a cannabis dispensary.

"Cannabis should have been my front-line therapy and not a desperate
last resort," Arcand said, adding that Health Canada needs to issue
more licences.

Arcand said he supported calls in Ottawa on Tuesday by medical
marijuana advocates for the federal government to legalize pot
dispensaries, as activists launched a national organization to help
regulate the businesses.

"Dispensaries should be legally regulated and recognized as a
legitimate health care service," said Rade Kovacevic, co-founder of
the new Canadian Association of Medical Dispensaries. "We are asking
the government to recognize our experience and to work with us to
develop a regulatory framework for medical cannabis."

The non-profit association aims to oversee the country's estimated 30
dispensaries, which sell a range of cannabis products and strains to
buyers who show a doctor's note and meet other requirements.

Staff plan to accredit the dispensaries -many of which are currently
set up as illegal storefronts -in areas such as patient eligibility,
dispensing practices, quality of cannabis and community safety, with a
goal of ensuring high standards of care.

Marijuana remains illegal in Canada, but residents suffering from
illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS and epilepsy can apply
to use pot as supplied by Health Canada's growers or a licensed
individual grower.

Marc-Boris St. Maurice, who founded the association and operates a
compassion club in Montreal, said dispensaries provide shorter wait
times for registration than Health Canada, as well as one-on-one
consultations and marijuana products that don't have to be smoked.

More doctors are referring patients to cannabis dispensaries over
Health Canada, advocate and health care administrator Rielle Capler
added.

A Health Canada spokesman said the ministry is currently considering
measures to reform its medical marijuana program and its regulations,
but reiterated that it does not license compassion clubs or
dispensaries.

"Any changes to the program will balance the need to provide
reasonable legal access to this controlled substance with the
government's responsibility to regulate it," the spokesman said in an
email.

Kovacevic, who founded a dispensary in Guelph, Ont., pointed to the
half-dozen court rulings, the most recent in Ontario, which have found
Health Canada's medical marijuana program to be unconstitutional.

In April, the Ontario Superior Court struck down two key pieces of
legislation that prohibit the possession and production of pot after a
constitutional challenge by a medical marijuana user.

The judge has suspended the ruling until mid-July so the federal
government can make its next move.

Kovacevic said dispensaries have been filling the void in supply more
efficiently and cost-effectively, and that the association wants to
work with law enforcement, government and health care groups to
legalize the service.