[Urgent!] VANCOUVER: NV City Council attempting to shut down local dispensary

North Vancouver dispensary to be shut down if action not taken

I'm not a very regular poster on rollitup anymore, I typically just lurk around and read the wealth of information on this board. But I come to you now begging for help, as this greatly effects myself as well as hundreds of other Canadian medicinal marijuana users.

A local non-profit dispensary start up in deep cove under the name of Re-Leaf
Dispensary is quickly being squashed by misinformed parental groups. A slanderous letter was recently handed around by a parent of a local school about this dispensary which pointed to a lot of non-existent issues, including the concern that crime rates would rise and children would have easier access to narcotics (basically, their concerns have become a big ball of ignorance & lies formed into a ball of shit which has since been thrown into a fan, to put it lightly.) Overall things are not looking too good. I am not in any way related to this local dispensary, but the fact that a bylaw will be put in place that would prevent locally owned and operated cannabis dispensary's from operating in the district of North Vancouver is scary to me as a medical marijuana user.

From latest reports the district of North Vancouver has received over 175 emails from opposition of this local dispensary, and only 2 from supporters.. (This number will be rising in the next few days as information is given out promoting support of the local dispensary, as well as the damage control put in place to deal with the letter that's recently been going around..)

Attempt to introduce Bylaw to prevent dispensary's opening: http://www.dnv.org/article.asp?a=5098

Notice of Public Hearing in regards to the new bylaw (PDF): http://www.dnv.org/upload/documents/Public_Hearings/phn110614.pdf

Update: http://www.dnv.org/article.asp?a=5106

Cannabis Culture Article:http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/2011/06/10/North-Vancouver-Marijuana-Dispensary-Open-Despite-Opposition

Ways you can help:

Following the dispensary's twitter account, and tweeting messages of support (@RLeafDispensary)

Emailing the District of North Vancouver with support for Re-Leaf Dispensary (Please, please do this, I beg of you)
http://www.dnv.org/article.asp?c=171
(Their site is kind of wonky, if you could forward your letters of support to both [email protected] & [email protected] as they have two emails for feedback for some strange reason, and I just need to be sure that letters of support are getting through.)

I will provide as much information as possible, as well as update this page on any new news I can find.

The hearing as it currently stands is scheduled for the 14th, but letters of support would be best submitted by the 12th. I apologize for posting this so late but they're in dire need of support. Please help support Cannabis Dispensary's in Canada. They can't do it without our help.

Example letter if you're in need of some inspiration:

To the District of North Vancouver,

It has come to my attention that there will be a medical marijuana dispensary opening in the near future in our community. There has been a large amount of speculation as to how it will benefit us, and just as much controversy. Although the community and its residents have fair reason to oppose the opening of this clinic, I believe that they have not been properly informed (and to some extent, misinformed) to make an unbiased decision.

There are many diseases that plague Canadian residents today and hundreds are constantly turned down by the inffective government operated medical marijuana programs. Many of these diseases can be terminal, and more often then not the government turns it's back on these patients when they need all of the support they can get.

This marijuana dispensary is not a public building where any customer can walk in with money and walk out with cannabis – the clinic will NOT sell medical grade cannabis to just anyone who walks through the doors. Along with having a specific note detailing your specific ailment and that you need the drug to treat it, you ALSO have to be a member in the computer system with valid identification, which is verified when any purchases are made. The sole purpose of this clinic is to supply and support victims and families that have had the government of Canada turn it's back on them. They are there to help when nobody else is willing to.

The issues stating that allowing this dispensary to operate would cause a rise in crime rates and children having access to drugs is both proposterous and down right defamation.

I strongly believe that allowing this dispensary to operate would provide a compassionate and safe environment for patients that would have otherwise been sent to the streets to find access to medication or forced to take pharmaceuticals with numerous debilitating side effects as well as exponential costs to the Canadian health care system.

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