Lawful and totally legal is what Mary Jane’s Glass and Gifts is saying as they continue to operate in Williams Lake following a search warrant executed by RCMP yesterday.
Store manager Mark Cowan says they operate within a legal framework to dispense medicinal cannabis without a prescription.
He says within their three months of running they have been successfully serving all walks of life from tribal elders to parents looking for remedies for their children.
Cowan says the realism is that the medical marijuana market is emerging quite quickly and that they are surprised by the actions of RCMP.
“This recent raid has been quite interesting because all they’re really leaving out right now, my young friends they can find all of their friends on the black market and get their weed and they’ll sleep all comfortable and well,” he says.
“It’s the cancer patients and the little old ladies that they have now pushed back to the black market.”
Cowan says he gets people from all the way from Bella Coola for medicinal marijuana and adds that their other chains across Canada including two locations in Ottawa are still running raid free.
He says they their website is up and that they hope to keep the store operating.
RCMP state at this time marijuana is regulated as a controlled substance under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act which prohibits the importation, exportation, trafficking, cultivation/production, and possession of it or its derivatives.
Investigators had gathered evidence of possible offences under the Criminal Code of Canada as well as the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
“Drug Trafficking is and will remain a priority for our detachment and officers to proactively enforce these types of offences,” Williams Lake RCMP Inspector Jeff Pelley said in a news release.
“We take this very seriously and will continue to seek evidence to pursue charges.”
Pelley adds although police recognize the current complexities surrounding the potential for future legislative changes, the RCMP is tasked with enforcing the laws of Canada as they exist today.