POT DISPENSARY WILL OPEN ON SATURDAY

District of North Vancouver to Ban Sale of Marijuana Without Federal
Authorization

North Vancouver medical marijuana activist says he will open a
cannabis dispensary in Deep Cove this weekend despite efforts by the
municipality to quash his plans.

Re-Leaf Dispensary society will begin selling the drug to licensed
users from a new outlet at 4266 Mount Seymour Parkway at 10 a.m.
Saturday, according to Ken Starr, the non-profit group's founder and
president. The declaration comes just days after the District of North
Vancouver began passage of a bylaw aimed specifically at preventing
the dispensary's operation.

The municipal regulation passed first reading at a special meeting of
district council June 3, five days after Starr's intentions became
public in a front-page story in the North Shore News. The new rule
would prohibit "the sale, distribution, trade or dispensing of
cannabis and its preparations, derivatives and similar synthetic
preparations, except as authorized under . . . applicable federal
legislation" within municipal boundaries.

Since the Re-Leaf dispensary isn't licensed -- Health Canada only
issues legal exemptions to medical users and some small-scale growers
- -- the bylaw effectively bans it from the district. The rule won't
come into effect until next week at the earliest. It still needs to be
discussed at a Tuesday public hearing and pass two more readings
before it can be enacted. Typically, municipal bylaws are not enforced
retroactively. Non-complying zoning or businesses that predate a bylaw
are considered "grandfathered."

Starr said he plans to operate anyway, since he feels the proposed ban
is unjustified.

"If you look in the neighbourhoods where all the other dispensaries
are, there have been no increases in criminal behaviour," he said. "I
think people should have access to the medicine; I think it should be
in every community."

As a non-profit society, the dispensary won't need a business licence
from the district, he added.

But district Coun. Roger Bassam said the municipality had to step in
because of the impact the dispensary would have on the surrounding
neighbourhood. A staff report issued to council ahead of last week's
meeting raised the spectre of increased noise, traffic, loitering,
crime and drug trafficking in the event the shop was allowed to open.

The district has received more than 175 emails from residents opposed
to the dispensary -- versus just two voicing support -- since the News
article ran, said Bassam.

"People just aren't comfortable with that sort of a business opening
up in what is essentially a residential community," he said. "If there
were a bona fide need for medical marijuana in the District of North
Vancouver . . . I would think Vancouver Coastal Health would be on
it."

Kirk Tousaw, a lawyer for Re-Leaf whose practice revolves largely
around medical marijuana cases, says it's not the municipality's place
to try to prevent the dispensary's operation. Questions around the
distribution of marijuana fall under criminal law, he said, and as
such are the purview of the federal government.

What's more, the district's arguments against its opening are
spurious, added Tousaw.

"It's fear mongering and NIMBY-ism," he said. "There's no reason to
suggest that a dispensary for medical marijuana is going to cause
associated community problems any more than a pharmacy, which every
single day of the week dispenses much more dangerous and much more
valuable and much more addictive products to people without any of
those kinds of issues."

If the police investigate and move to shut it down, Tousaw is prepared
to fight for the dispensary's continued operation in court, he said.

"Let's not fool ourselves," said Tousaw. "There are plenty of people
who sell marijuana on the black market in the District of North
Vancouver. . . . That's not where you want to send your grandmother to
purchase medicine; you want a safe and supportive environment, and
that's what a compassion club is. It's a better option. It's an option
that can bring a lot of positive benefits to the community if people
would just open their eyes and their hearts a little bit."

Looking ahead to Saturday's planned opening, Starr said he was
nervous.

"This is all a little overwhelming for me personally," he said. "I'm
extremely saddened and confused by the opposition I've heard so far. .
. . There are a lot of sick people on the North Shore who can't easily
travel across town to get their medicine."