LITTLE SHOP OF POT

If Kamloops Mounties consider Carl Anderson a problem, it might well
be he is a problem of their own making.

Who is Carl Anderson, you're asking? Depends on who you talk to. For
some, he is no doubt a saviour, a supplier of high-grade medical
marijuana it appears many in our community need to help with various
ailments. He helps them by selling them the medicine they need, at
slightly less than street price.

To others, however, he is a drug dealer - nothing less - who is
flouting Canada's drug laws by openly selling illicit substances.

Anderson is the man behind the Canadian Safe Cannabis Society, an
organization he formed to supply residents with medical needs a safe,
secure supply of high-grade marijuana.

And he also is the owner of Kamloops's only marijuana dispensary, a
little North Shore shop more akin to a delicatessen than a pharmacy.

I got a rather inadvertent and unexpected look inside Anderson's store
and offices last week. A friend of mine who was also there gave what
proves to be an accurate description: "This place is like something
out of Amsterdam."

In the centre of the room is a bakery shop display case, filled with
racks of marijuana in see-through containers bearing labels such as
"Bubba Kush" and "Purple Kush." There is a menu board behind the
counter advertising 14 strains at $175 an ounce, as well as a variety
of baked goods, including marijuana-laced chocolate chip cookies.

On the wall next to the counter is an info sheet describing the kind
of highs or physical experience each of the strains provides. Bubba
Kush, for example, gives "an all body high."

Near a window is a tray of small marijuana clones, each about eight
centimetres high, bright green and growing. On the wall nearby is a
painted mural of Cheech and Chong. There are lounge chairs and
paintings and hardwood floors.

In a room behind the counter is Anderson's lab, complete with gas
chromatograph, which he uses to ensure the products he sells are pure,
safe and free of pesticides or other contaminants.

And of course, he is able to measure the percentage of THC in his
marijuana. Those in the store say the product is much, much better
than what medical users can get through Health Canada's official
supply chain.

There are also bars on the windows and a large, heavy safe, presumably
used to store the product when the shop is closed.

Anderson's shop isn't open to the public. To get past the little
waiting room immediately adjacent to the main doors, one needs to have
the required medical forms, including a letter or prescription from a
doctor.

Anderson won't talk to me about his shop, which amazingly, has been
open since March. It appears he doesn't like some of the news stories
I've written about the launch of his compassion service and sees no
value in discussing his plans with the media. One thing is clear,
however - he's growing a smoking new business.

Back to why the Mounties can blame themselves, at least in part, for
Anderson's expansion into a full-blown medical marijuana business.

In May 2009, the Kamloops RCMP executed search warrants at Anderson's
home. At the time, the man was growing marijuana for his own use. He
was authorized by Health Canada to grow 49 pot plants, which he
discovered best deal with the chronic pain he suffers as the result of
a car accident.

His doctor gave him a prescription for marijuana and Anderson went
from living in constant pain to being almost pain-free. He doesn't
smoke the drug, he says, but mixes it in olive oil so he can ingest it
orally.

Shortly after the raid, Anderson said police knew he was allowed by
Health Canada to grow marijuana for his own needs. He said his permit
even allows RCMP to come inspect when they want. All officers needed
to do was knock at his door and he would have let them in.

Instead, drug Mounties came unannounced and seized all his plants and
expensive equipment, leaving him without the substance he says is the
only thing that keeps him healthy.

Anderson denied he violated any laws - including the suggestion he had
more plants than allowed. Anderson said there were only 49 mature
plants growing, the number allowed by his permit. The other 80 or so
seized by police were unrooted cuttings that would have formed the
basis for his next crop, one-third of which would have died before
growing roots.

He was never charged.

Anderson said the raid forced him to seek marijuana on the street. It
was then he decided that people who have a legitimate medical need for
marijuana should not have to risk injury by buying drugs in back alleys.

The Canadian Safe Cannabis Society was born.

"I'm just doing what I think is right," he told me in our brief
conversation Friday, adding he supplies marijuana only to those who
have been approved by Health Canada.

Kamloops RCMP Supt. Yves Lacasse said Monday he can't comment on the
May 2009 raid at Anderson's house as the matter is now the subject of
a lawsuit.

Regarding Anderson's compassion club, Lacasse said nothing has
changed. Canadian law does not allow for this kind of operation and if
he is selling marijuana to anyone for any reason, he is breaking the
law.

"Without proper licences, what he is doing is trafficking," said
Lacasse, earlier this year. "Does he have the proper authority? It
requires further investigation."

So what will the RCMP do? Will they make Anderson's pot shop a
priority target or follow the course so many other police forces
across Canada do and let him slip under the radar?

Lacasse won't say Anderson is safe from enforcement, but added police
must use resources wisely. He conceded no one in the community is
calling him to ask what he is going to do about Anderson's club.
Except for the media.

Kamloops has serious drug problems to deal with, he acknowledged,
including dealers who fuel property crime and violence with sales of
crack cocaine and crystal meth.

Of course, there are risks in allowing Anderson an unfettered ability
to do his business, no matter how genuine or sincere he might be.

For starters, his shop is a target. His clients might want his
marijuana for medicinal purposes, but many others in our society may
not. Violent gangs often target grow-ops in order to rip off the drugs
inside and make quick and easy profits. What will keep Anderson's shop
safe?

As well, it is difficult to know how stringent is Anderson's process
for screening clients. Is he scrutinizing every person who wants to
buy marijuana? Do they all really need the drug for what they say they
need it for?

Maybe our law enforcers need to do something. Maybe
not.

Whatever is done, it is not likely the RCMP's drug cops will do what
they did two years ago and once again kick in Anderson's doors with
scant warrants and drug squad bravado. It could well be that Anderson
is looking for just that kind of response. Maybe he expects he will be
raided and charged, and hopes to lead a cause and become a kind of
marijuana martyr.

I suspect the RCMP will take a more sophisticated approach and build a
solid case with lots of evidence before they take action. Of course,
the irony is such an investigation takes lots of work, and we all know
those worrisome and far more destructive crack dealers are still out
there.

It's hard to know whether Anderson's store will be open in a year but
one thing is certain, whether his shop is open or closed his clients
will continue to have a need.

And where there is demand, there will always be a supplier. Who should
that be? Someone like Anderson? The government? Or someone else, a
Hells Angel in a white smock, maybe?