From The Vancouver Sun
sunletters@pacpress.southam.ca
http://www.vancouversun.com/
By Sarah Binder

MONTREAL STORE TO TEST OPEN SALE OF MEDICINAL POT

MONTREAL (CP)- Pot heads won't be able to drop in for a bag or a joint when a store opens for business selling marijuana to AIDS sufferers and those with chronic illnesses. "It won't be just anyone who can come here," said Louise-Caroline Bergeron, director of the Compassion Club, slated to open Friday. "It's very controlled," Bergeron said.

Its supporters in Quebec hope to have the same relationship that a similar business in Vancouver has with police.

See
British Columbia Compassion Club Has Almost 900 Members
-- Special To Marijuananews

"We intend to keep them up to date on the running of our operation, and we hope to experience the same tolerance as in Vancouver," Bergeron said.

In fact, the store is located across the street from a police station.

Bergeron acknowledged that her club will operate in "a grey zone" legally.

"People will have to have a doctor's note recommending cannabis for pain relief, and it's only for those with serious illness such as AIDS or those undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, or people suffering from epileptic seizures," she said.

The growing and smoking pot is illegal in Canada. But a growing number of Canadians with health problems have been asking for the legal right to use marijuana ever since James Wakeford, a Toronto man with AIDS, won an exemption from the current law earlier this year to use and grow marijuana.

The federal government had received about 50 similar requests by mid-July.
See
Canada May Begin Testing Medical Marijuana On AIDS Patients By The End Of The Year,
But They Are NOT Waiting On The Government.

The two are independent of each other.

"It's a clinic more than a store because we aren't selling a variety of products," Bergeron said.

The Montreal police department was consulting legal and medical authorities before deciding how to react to the club, said Const. Alain Lefrancois.

Bergeron said the source of her cannabis is confidential.
See
In Canada Only the Government Has Difficulty Getting Marijuana.
However, "Canadians who want to take part in a clinical trial
will find application forms on Health Canada’s Web Site"

She also would not say if doctors would be working at the clinic, or what hours it would keep. She said she was trained in psychology but wouldn't go into the background of the three-member board she said would be in charge of the club.

Besides Vancouver, clubs providing medicinal grass exist in Toronto and Ottawa, said David Chagnon, an aide to MP Bernard Bigras.
See
Canadian House Of Commons Votes 204 to 29 To Urge The Health Ministry
To "Take Steps" Toward Legalizing Marijuana For Medical Use.
Bloc Quebecois Seeks to Keep Pressure On Health Minister.

Bigras, who represents a Montreal riding for the Bloc Quebecois, originated a motion adopted by the House of Commons this year calling for legalizing marijuana for medicinal and therapeutic purposes. Chagnon said Bigras has visited the Vancouver club, which works by membership and now has about 700 members.
(Marijuananews note: Actually, it is around 900 and growing.)

Chagnon said Bigras has denied that legalizing marijuana for therapeutic use is only a step away from making pot-smoking legal for everyone.

"That's not at all the case," Chagnon said. "There are many drugs that are perfectly legal in hospital but are not available on the market, like many pills, but also morphine and codeine."