Marijuana dispensary shut down by police, owners may face charges
A police raid on a marijuana dispensary in Edmonton is leaving people who use the substance to ease their medical conditions without anywhere to get it.
Members of ALERT's Green Team shut down the Mobile Access Compassionate Resources Society [MACROS] on Wednesday. MACROS operated at the back of a hemp store on 118th Avenue.
President Aaron Bott works at the store with his parents and his brother. He says his mother was arrested when she went to open up the shop. He was also arrested when he arrived at the store on 118th Avenue.
"I was hoping that they would just talk to us and be considerate of what we are doing here," he said about the police. "Which there was nothing."
Police also raided his parents' home and took the marijuana they grow to deal with their own medical conditions.
Bott says his family has operated MACROS for 11 years without any run-ins with the law.
The organization is a non-profit and offers medical marijuana and advice to people who suffer from ailments like cancer, epilepsy and chronic pain.
He says he is now fielding calls from members who will have to turn to the streets, licensed producers or possibly to compassionate societies in B.C.
Ryan Wolff, 22, has a licence to legally obtain medical marijuana. Wolff has a nerve condition that causes painful spasms in his ankles.
After trying massage, acupuncture and a wide range of painkillers, including oxycontin and percocet, Wolff discovered that marijuana helped.
"That is the only thing that stops that spasm or at least calms it down to a manageable point."
Wolff first got his marijuana from Saskatchewan but started going to MACROS because it was just 20 minutes away. He got products there as well as support and advice.
Now that MACROS has been shut down, Wolff says he is fighting back. He is telling his story to the media. He made calls to the mayor's office and to the office of Stony Plain Conservative MP Rona Ambrose, who is also the federal health minister.
He believes MACROS can be saved if enough people speak out.
Bott hasn't yet been charged but he is preparing himself for a possible battle in court.
"I don't look at myself as a criminal," he said. "I look at myself as a person who helps patients access medicine that they choose to take."
