By Anna Marie D’Angelo

Club Has 700 Members

For two years, the Compassion Club http://www.thecompassionclub.org/ in East Vancouver has been quietly selling marijuana to people with terminal illnesses and serious diseases.

Compassion Club founder Hilary Black said the non-profit society has had no problems with the police.
(Marijuananews note: I am a big fan of Hilary’s. I am very proud of her. What she has done in Vancouver should embarrass the Health Minister into acting more expeditiously.)
See
Vancouver Leads The Way On Medical Marijuana;
Compassion Club Attorney Will Encourage Class Action Suits,
If Health Minister Does Not Move Faster.

Black said the Compassion Club is a registered non-profit society with 700 members. She said that on doctors’ recommendations, sick and dying people join the Compassion Club. Club members can purchase marijuana to combat the side effects of prescription drugs, for example.

Black said Compassion Club members are HIV positive, have AIDS, cancer including leukemia, epilepsy, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, arthritis and chronic pain.

Black said that marijuana can be used to combat prescription drug side effects such as nausea and appetite loss that results from anti-viral drugs for HIV and chemotherapy for cancer.

"Generally the only complaint we get is that marijuana is illegal," said Black.

"Not that they think that people that need it medically shouldn’t get it."

She said some people don’t like the way some marijuana supporters are trying to change the law.

Black said the marijuana dispensed at the Compassion Club is not treated with pesticides and is carefully checked to make sure there is no mould. She said that large amounts of marijuana are not kept on the premises in order to prevent being a target by thieves.

Black said that the marijuana is given to the Compassion Club by a "few growers." Growers who do not wish to directly deal with the Compassion Club because of legal concerns connect with people Black called Compassion Club "friends." These friends collect the marijuana from growers and store it. The marijuana is then brought to the Compassion Club in relatively small amounts.

"We don’t have 20 pounds of pot here or at our homes because we are in potentially a high-risk situation," said Black.

The Compassion Club marijuana is sold for less than street-level prices.

Black notes that she and five others operate the cannabis distribution of the Compassion Club. Black notes that they all get $10 an hour for their work and "pay taxes."

"I am sure we have been under a fair amount of surveillance. They (police) must know we are very strict, very bureaucratic, very careful and very thorough," said Black.

She said that a person can’t just walk off the street and buy marijuana. Potential new members need a doctors’ "prescription," an appointment and must take part in an "intake session."

The Compassion Club operates an alternative wellness centre as well which includes herbalists, a nutritionist and counsellors.

"We are trying to encourage people to use cannabis holistically," said Black.

North Vancouver RCMP Const. Shane Tuckey, of the drug section, points out the Compassion Club marijuana is unregulated and illegal.

Tuckey wonders who decides and ensures proper marijuana dosages and how potential abuse is controlled.

Tuckey said that some medical people frown on marijuana use because of its delivery system. Smoking marijuana harms the lungs and is a concern with pneumonia prone people with illnesses such as AIDs.

But Tuckey, a 20-year police veteran, said police across Canada and especially in B.C., have a high tolerance for simple possession of marijuana particularly when dealing with people using it for sickness.

Tuckey said drug enforcement resources are stretched to the limit in dealing with major cocaine and heroin traffickers along with the many hydroponic-grow operations linked to organized crime.

Tuckey noted that last year North Vancouver RCMP did not recommend charges involving about 200 drug seizures of relatively small amounts. Police call such investigations " no-case seizures."

"A lot of kids out there are just waiting to say, ‘Look it’s a medicine and it’s legal’ and then they are going to try it," said Tuckey.
(Marijuananews note: This is a really dumb argument. Why aren't kids saying that morphine is "a medicine and it’s legal’ and then they are going to try it."
See
They Are Legal, So They Must Be Safe: "Teens Abusing Drugstore Medicines"
Should We Have Drug-Free Drugstores?
Context For Medical Marijuana and "Drug Education" Debates
He warned that decriminalizing marijuana will result in more pot smoking by teenagers.
See
Legalize Marijuana and Reduce Use?
New Survey Puts Estimate of Dutch Marijuana Use Even More Below DEAland