TUESDAY FEBRUARY 24, 2015
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SPRING 2015
WARRIORS RUN THROUGH REGION
Raising funds and awareness about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
A5
MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN PARKSVILLE
Pot products on the shelves Remains to be seen if this move will force the RCMP to intervene CANDACE WU news@pqbnews.com
A compassion club in downtown Parksville is now distributing potbased products. Though Pheonix Pain Management Society said it won’t distribute medical marijuana from its Parksville site until the city is on board, managing director Akil Pessoa stocked the shelves Friday with cannabinoid (CBD) products. He said they will be available in-store this week. “While the mayor (Marc Lefebvre) is still getting his head around THC, rather than wait, we’re just going to move forward,” said Pessoa. He explains there are two main active ingredients in pot — THC and CBD. According to Pessoa, THC makes you feel “stoned” while cannabinoids don’t have the same psychoactive effect, therefore offering only the medical effects of medical marijuana. He said that makes it an appealing treatment option for medical purposes. “The argument (about marijuana) While the mayor is still is largely around THC and its psygetting his head around choactive effects so if we remove that THC, rather than wait, there’s no argument,” he said. we’re just going to move Asked if cannabinoids are illegal, forward Pessoa said “they shouldn’t be, I’ve AKIL PESSOA never seen a law against it.” The Government of Canada lists “cannabis, its preparations (and) derivatives” including cannabis, cannabidiol and cannabinol as Schedule II drugs. Parksville’s chief of police Brian Hunter confirmed earlier this month “there is absolutely no mechanism in law in Canada, or anywhere, for (dispensaries/compassion clubs) to exist.” Parksville Mayor Marc Lefebvre has repeatedly told The NEWS that he will follow direction from police in regards to Pheonix deeming the society “completely illegal.” Pessoa and a handful of pot activists have held at least two protests at city hall demanding Lefebvre direct the local RCMP to shift police resources and priorities away from the society. See CREAMS, EYE DROPS OFFERED, page A4
BRENDA GOUGH PHOTO
SWIRLING: Wine lovers swirled and sipped their way through the night at The Beach Club Resort in Parksville Feb. 20 at the seventh annual Parksville Uncorked wine and food festival. The theme for the evening was denim and diamonds and many of the guests, including Meghan Walker, above left, and Paulina Alexander, right, were as sparkly as the libations being poured. With renowned chefs, sommeliers, vintners and restauranteurs around every corner, the event proved to be another great grape gala. For more photos from this event and many others, including the festival’s Untapped (beer) event Thursday night at Tigh-Na-Mara Resort, visit our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/PQBNews.
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