I read your coverage of the pressure being applied to the local medical cannabis dispensary with great emotion.
Most people don’t understand the severity of the injustice being perpetrated against the medical cannabis community in Canada. Before I became ill and found that this herbal medicine helped me stay healthy and happy, I probably wouldn’t have given this issue much consideration either.
Some perspective may help the average Parksville/Qualicum resident better understand the issue. Imagine your mother, father, daughter or son is suffering greatly every day with a painful and/or debilitating disease. Not hard to do. We all know someone who is suffering and many among us are suffering ourselves.
You discover a drug, with no dangerous side effects, that gives them back their, and your, quality of life. Then the authorities show up and tell you that you have no right to help your family member because this largely harmless substance is illegal, that if you don’t stop helping them they will return and arrest you.
What would you do? Stop and let your loved one resume their misery or choose a different path that leads to arrest, lengthy and expensive court battles and possible lengthy incarceration. Not many people would chose the latter, even for a family member. Yet that is what Phoenix is doing for all members of your community.
Commendable behavior which should be supported by all.
Carl AndersonKamloops
