DISPENSARY USERS PROMISE TO BE VOCAL

"It's good to have a poop now," said Craig Pirart when asked what
medical marijuana has done to help him.

He's on about $900 per month of presciption drugs, including heavy
duty pain meds to deal with a broken hip eight years ago that led to
10 surgeries and finally amputation of his right leg.

Without the $90-100 of medical marijuana he was able to obtain each
month through the Langley Medical Marijuana Dispensary, the
52-year-old former heavy equipment operator will be faced with having
to double his prescription drug use.

The dispensary was raided by the RCMP on July 19. Iits pot varieties
were seized along with baked goods containing marijuana. (See Pot
dispensary owner wants to talk, Langley Advance, July 28.)

No charges have been laid against owner Randy Caine who held a
townhall meeting Aug. 2 to ask the community for input.

More than 100 people attended, including Pirart in his electric
scooter.

He said he won't, as some medical marijuana patients have said they
must, look at buying pot on the streets.

"I'm too scared," he said. Pirart said he feels particularly
vulnerable as a scooter user, tries to be around other people when
he's out and won't even go out alone after dark.

"I've heard from other people in scooters who have been rolled for
cigarettes," he said.

But upping his prescription medication has significant impacts, such
as blocking bowels, troubling his stomach and altering his mind and
clarity.

At the meeting, people offered various suggestions on how to obtain
their medical marijuana or get the dispensary back open.

Caine said the dispensary had about 150 active members receiving
medical marijuana, like Pirart. Health Canada licensed Caine to
provide for two people but he said he was following court decisions
about the right to access the plant.

"I think that this is as far as I'm going to go with it," he told the
crowd.

Caine said he's become a distraction from the real issue - ensuring
people who have been prescribed medical marijuana can obtain it.

"I will deal with the police," he said. "I will deal with the legal.
The medical - I will no longer be the face."

The Langley City resident said he would like the opportunity for this
to go to court but does not believe the Crown will pursue charges
because there are so many grey areas.

He and others at the meeting invited Langley City council members and
other politicians but none attended.

"These are your representatives that aren't here," Caine
said.

Four dispensaries have been raided recently. Caine said the intent is
to create fear, not to uphold the law.

Talk turned to actions the attendees could take, including appearing
before City council as a delegation of medical marijuana users, letter
writing campaigns, organized civil disobedience, and voting against
current council members in the Nov. 19 municipal election. The crowd
roared when one person asked if Caine planned to run for office but he
commented that the current council has skills and gets things
accomplished but lacks the emotional maturity to deal with medical
marijuana in a way that helps the community.

He said he won't run for municipal council.

"We can put a fire under them," he noted.

A member-driven dispensary model has been suggested and will likely be
the next method tried for the community, Caine told the crowd.

It would be based around the structures his dispensary created, such
as criteria for membership, and paralleling Health Canada medical
marjiuana rules.

"There is no stopping of this," Pirart said of the growing use of
medical marijuana and cultural attitudes that have shifted. "It [a
dispensary] will take the criminal element out of it."

WHO USES?

Medical marijuana users want to put a face on who uses it and what it
has done for them.

A table will be set up in McBurney Lane in downtown Langley on
Saturday, Aug. 6 from noon to 5 p.m.

People at Tuesday's townhall meeting were invited to volunteer at the
booth which will answer questions from passersby and to share their
stories.

It may become a regular occurance as people impacted by the raid of
the Langley Medical Marijuana Dispensary speak out. It remains open
but is not dispensing medical marijuana.