cannabisnews.com: Police Question Pot Club’s Policing Efforts










  Police Question Pot Club’s Policing Efforts

Posted by CN Staff on February 27, 2003 at 10:13:26 PT
By Don Descoteau 
Source: Victoria News  

A seven-month reprieve from police raids ended last week for the Cannabis Buyers Club in Victoria. Acting on information obtained through an earlier arrest, Victoria police executed a search warrant Feb. 19 and seized a “large quantity” of marijuana from the 826 Johnson St. shop used as headquarters for the local medical marijuana compassion club and the Hempology 101 Society.
It is the fifth time since January 2002 that police have seized products and/or made arrests at the location. Victoria police Sgt. Darren Laur says he is “empathetic to the cause of medicinal marijuana”. He adds, however, the department has to draw the line when it comes to the unlawful distribution of illicit drugs. “As long as the criminal element is still purchasing marijuana at certain organizations at a discounted rate and re-selling it downtown, we will continue to target those organizations,” he says. Laur hints that the Cannabis Buyers Club has little in the way of “checks and balances” in place to prevent re-selling by its members, who claim to use marijuana for medical purposes. “So as a result of that, the compassionate side is bleeding over into the enforcement side,” he says. Ted Smith, co-founder of the club and Hempology 101, argues that the club is extremely careful when it comes to screening members and monitoring their use of the service. He says anyone caught engaging in an activity that could be construed as using the marijuana products for other than personal use is immediately cut off. “We call it a zero tolerance for stupidity,” says Smith. “Get caught once and you’re gone.” Smith claims the club’s membership totals nearly 1,200 now. To join, he says people must provide compelling information from their doctor documenting a medical condition, a prerequisite that causes far more applicants to be turned down rather than approved. He says the club has a daily log book in which it records “suspicious” activities. Smith insists new members are apprised of all of the potential reasons for banishment when they sign up. “We’d rather lose dozens of people who are taking small risks and keep the people who really need the medicine.” Currently, said Laur, there are several distributors of medical marijuana in the city, but the Cannabis Buyers Club has been the most frequent subject of police raids. The city’s other sizeable medical marijuana supplier, the 300-member Vancouver Island Compassion Society, makes its new members sign a contract stating they will not re-sell and specifically requires them to have a doctor’s prescription for medicinal marijuana. They are also encouraged to only use the products at home. “We want people to treat the organization with respect,” says society president Philippe Lucas. “The contract is purely for the safety of the rest of the membership and says that if they do anything, they endanger the supply for everyone else.” Lucas says he is concerned with the trend in Victoria of shutting down a compassion club as the source of a trafficker’s marijuana supply. He says owners of convenience stores or managers of liquor stores aren’t arrested when people are caught bootlegging liquor or cigarettes to minors. “I do know every time (the Buyer’s Club) gets busted there are dozens, if not hundreds of people who are forced to go back to the street — back to Centennial Square — to get their medicine,” Lucas says. Laur says that Smith has asked for police help in identifying people believed to be re-selling or engaged in other illicit activities. But Laur says the police cannot do that because it infringes on those individuals’ legal rights. The two men arrested last week, who Smith says are among a rotating group of people who look after the store from time to time, were charged and released Feb. 20 under conditions that they not go within a block of the store or come into contact with Smith. Smith, who has been arrested four times on marijuana-related charges, said he hopes to fill city council chambers with medical marijuana advocates Thursday night in an attempt to inform councillors of the club’s plight. He and a handful of supporters also plan to go to MP David Anderson’s office Friday to try and get some support from the federal cabinet minister. Source: Victoria News (CN BC)Author: Don DescoteauPublished: February 25, 2003Copyright: 2003 Victoria NewsWebsite: http://www.vicnews.com/Contact: vicnews vinewsgroup.comRelated Articles & Web Sites:VICShttp://www.thevics.com/Hempology 101http://www.hempology101.com/The Catch-22 of Compassionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15592.shtmlWeeding Out Feds’ Position on Medical Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13875.shtmlPolice Review Medical Pot Policies http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12622.shtml

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Comment #2 posted by puff_tuff on February 27, 2003 at 11:40:15 PT
Editorial from the same issue
February 25, 2003 The Catch-22 of compassionEditorial
Victoria News Compassion clubs that supply marijuana to people who claim to need it for medicinal purposes have become a staple of sizable communities across North American in recent years, as public opinion softens on the prohibition against pot. Yet these “clubs” operate in a legal vacuum given court decisions that have been handed down in Canada in recent years, which have muddied the waters when it comes to marijuana and the law. So let’s be clear up front. On the issue of marijuana and its legality, The Victoria News is squarely in the camp that says legalize it, for everyone, be they recreational users or medicinal users. But our stance on the proper legal status of pot does not blind us to the fact that marijuana as of today is still illegal to consume and possess, unless you have a specific exemption granted by the federal government. Thus the Catch-22 that bedevils police departments such as Victoria’s when compassion gives way to illegal activity as currently defined under the Canadian Criminal Code. Which brings us to the continuing raids against Victoria’s Cannabis Buyers Club. Every time the police conduct a raid on the storefront of the Cannabis Buyer’s Club of Canada, formerly known as Ted’s Books, the “compassionate” souls who run the club risk frittering away the good will that clubs such as the Vancouver Island Compassion Society have developed in Victoria and have worked hard to maintain. Ted Smith and his compatriots have made no secret of the fact they would like to see marijuana legalized outright. They are the first to admit that the medical marijuana angle has afforded them a foot in the door toward that end. While Smith argues that his people go to great lengths to ensure their customers aren’t re-selling the marijuana they purchase, as is often alleged by Victoria police when they raid the place, the bottom line is it’s still happening, or at least the local police believe so. Thus the raids. Smith claims his organization has more than 1,200 members. The vast majority of those people do not have Health Canada’s permission to use marijuana, despite allegedly being afflicted various ailments. The 300-member Vancouver Island Compassion Club (a separate entity), according to executive director Philippe Lucas, specifically requires a doctor’s prescription for marijuana to get in. And prospective clients must sign a contract stating that they promise not to re-sell their purchase. The contract impresses upon people the seriousness of their responsibility, says Lucas, and is a big reason why that club has not been busted since Lucas once called Oak Bay police about a break-in at the shop more than two years ago. While Lucas’s club is engaged in the same kind of quasi-illegal activity as Smith’s club, it doesn’t seem to get nearly the heat that the downtown Victoria club feels from time to time. The Victoria police are well aware of the stance Smith has taken on the legalization of marijuana. While his pot-related arrests over the years — four at last count — have left him feeling vulnerable and prompted him to keep a low profile in recent months following his failed mayoralty bid, he is known for leading pro-legalization rallies and generally being vocal on the subject. With the federal government thinking seriously about removing simple possession of marijuana from the criminal code, it would appear that the old expression the squeaky wheel gets the grease might apply when it comes to Smith’s fight to get cannabis legalized. But when it comes to providing the substance in a way that essentially flaunts the existing law, sellers, compassionate or not, have to be a lot more low-key and provide safety mechanisms to prevent any good will that has been built up from being lost among the general population. There are those who say the police in Victoria are harassing Victoria’s compassion club, as a letter on this very page argues. But what are the police to do? And while one could argue the club’s efforts are based on compassion for people who claim to get medical relief from marijuana, they must take seriously the responsibility they have taken on and police themselves better in the future. If not, it’s not the Victoria police’s fault that police raids will continue into the future. Contact: vicnews vinewsgroup.com
Victoria News
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on February 27, 2003 at 10:18:58 PT

Uh-Oh! The cops ran out of weed again........
When reading this article, just compare the Compassion club to Walgreens - Do patients with scripts for Valium, Percocet, or Oxycontin (all potentially lethal drugs) need to sign a waiver that they won't re-sell?  Does Walgreens have to vet every patient's illness before giving them drugs?  Do the cops occassionally raid Walgreens and take all their drugs, because some are abusing Oxycontin?

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