POT 'CLUB' NIPPED IN THE BUD BY COPS

The owner of a Chilliwack "compassion club" shut down by police last
week is vowing to try again once he speaks with the RCMP and City of
Chilliwack.

Speaking to the Times on Monday, Be Kind Medical Clinic owner Bob Kay
blamed a lack of communication for the raid of his short-lived clinic
last week.

Last Wednesday, police raided Be Kind, seized four to to five pounds
of marijuana and arrested an Abbotsford man.

The clinic, located on Yale Road just east of Five Corners, had posted
an advertisement on Craigslist last Friday. It said its doctors would
help qualified patients obtain medical marijuana cards and that a
"compassion club" would distribute pot to licensed medical marijuana
users. The opening date was listed as June 20.

After the raid, police said they found marijuana hashish and oil
extraction labs, along with the four to five pounds of dried bud in
the clinic. They said marijuana oils were being used in food products
including chocolate, lollipops and edible hashish.

Asked what caused the problems that led to the closure of the clinic,
Kay told the Times, "I think a lack of education, lack of
communication on both parties."

And when asked what he would do differently if he had a second chance,
Kay said: "Not if, but when we do it over, I hope the city, like the
Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, will engage in a conversation
and support us and engage in the model, rather than be the problem."

In an email statement to the Times on Monday, Kay said "Be Kind
Medical Clinic's intent, from the start, was to try to remove some of
the barriers patients encounter when trying to gain legal access to
cannabis while providing professional oversight."

It concluded: "We are anticipating a meeting with the RCMP and hope to
resolve the issue soon."

But Kay has a long way to go in his desire to convince Mayor Sharon
Gaetz to support his clinic.

"They were cooking dope and they were putting people at risk," said
Gaetz of the compassion club.

Gaetz said fire inspectors found the operators "were cooking with
isopropyl [alcohol] and at risk of setting the whole block on fire."

The City of Chilliwack has since removed the occupancy permit from the
building.

Police arrested a 41-year-old Abbotsford man and have recommended drug
possession, production and trafficking charges. The investigation is
ongoing but charges have not been laid against Kay.

Compassion clubs are illegal, but more than a dozen operate throughout
the province dispensing cannabis to those licensed to use medical marijuana.

Isaac Oommen, the communications co-ordinator with the Vancouver-based
B.C. Compassion Club, said three-quarters of those who use medical
marijuana access it through illegal compassion clubs that nevertheless
operate in the open.

"Technically speaking, we are illegal, if you want to use that word,"
he told the Times. However, police and city officials in Vancouver and
other municipalities have shown little desire to go after the clubs.
Asked about establishing the B.C. Compasssion Club, Oommen said: "It
happened that the City of Vancouver was progressive enough to see the
potential that the club had and its impact and accept it."

Kay also operates compassion clubs in Vernon and Kelowna under the Be
Kind label. Despite operating in the open, those clinics have not been
shut down by police.

When asked why the Chilliwack compassion club was shut down while
others remain operating, RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Annie Linteau said,
"These businesses are like any other individual: if we receive
information suggesting what they are doing is illegal, we will be
investigating," she said.

For Gaetz, there is no excuse for tolerating something that is
illegal.

"The City of Chilliwack enforces the laws," she said. "If something is
illegal, we shut it down. It seems pretty black and white to us. If
there are laws that permit use, we don't shut it down, but right now
Health Canada has said they do not issue licences for compassion clubs."

The fact that the Be Kind Medical Clinic didn't disclose its marijuana
focus before setting up shop also didn't go over well.

"They tried to trick the city, plain and simple," said Gaetz. "They
never indicated that this was a marijuana dispensary."