[420 Girl]

TORONTO -- A medical marijuana producer looking to grow weed in Port Hope was arrested Wednesday following a police raid of his Toronto facilities.

On Aug. 4, Cannabis as Living Medicine (CALM), one of the most well-established medical cannabis dispensaries in Canada, was raided by Toronto police for the second time in one month, said Jacob Hunter, an advocate for drug policy reform and policy director of the Beyond Prohibition Foundation in Vancouver. Dispensary owner, Neev Tapiero, who recently purchased a property in Port Hope with hopes of using it to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes, was arrested in the raid.

"His lawyer is hoping to get him a hearing shortly," said Mr. Hunter.

According to Mr. Hunter, Mr. Tapiero is still moving ahead with his Port Hope plans.

"I do not believe this will effect his Port Hope project, though I do not know this for certain," he said.

As a result of the raid this week, and several others across Canada recently, Canadians for Safe Access (CAS), a national patient advocacy organization, is calling on Health Canada to work with growers to develop regulations that would ensure their protection as well as the highest quality of care for patients.

"Our government should be supporting patients to access the best possible medicine, and supporting the organizations that are providing this vital service," Rielle Capler, a researcher and co-founder of the organization stated in a press release.

While the use of cannabis for medical purposes is legal in Canada, the federal government's program, which provides licenses to patients for legal possession of cannabis, does not provide an adequate legal source of this medicine, Mr. Capler said.

Government statistics show that only about 800 of the 4,000 licensed medical cannabis users access the government's supply, which is considered by many patients to be inferior, added Mr. Capler. He added an estimated 20,000 license holders with critical and chronic medical conditions acquire their cannabis from dispensaries like CALM.


NewsHawk: MecdicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: northumberlandnews.com
Author: Karen Lloyd
Contact:Metroland.com - Contact
Copyright: Metroland 2010
Website:northumberlandnews.com / indynews.ca | Port Hope's medical marijuana man busted


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