Stittsville councillor opposes medical marijuana dispensary after visit

Stittsville Councillor Shad Qadri visited a new medical marijuana dispensary on Iber Road after publicly declaring his opposition to the facilty—and left without changing his mind.

Magna Terra owner Franco Vigile invited Stittsville residents to visit his facility Wednesday in a bid to ease community concerns about its safety.

Vigile said he had chosen the location to be more than a kilometre from the nearest school or community centre, part of his series of rules he's imposed on his facility. 

"I'm not in a foot traffic area, I'm in an industrial zone," Vigile said. "I have a three-stage process when you're entering the clinic. You cannot even gain access to the reception area until you've been validated from our receptionist on camera."

Vigile said his staff would not allow minors or anyone with their face covered to enter the facility. Staff will also ask for government-issued photo identification and a doctor's prescription as they set up their client's accounts and dispense a variety of marijuana-derived products.

​The extra measures were not enough to impress the councillor, who says the bottom line is the facility should not be operating. He ended his meeting with Vigile saying there was no getting past that.

"They're not licensed and they're not legal—in terms of both distributing the material they're doing and the facility they're using," Qadri said.

'It's like going to the pharmacy'

Vigile said Magna Terra is filling a gap in personalized care for medical marijuana patients. Right now, doctors prescribe medical marijuana and prescriptions are filled via mail order from licensed providers such as Tweed in Smiths Falls, Ont.

"We are filling a huge void in the public demand for this method of accessing their medicine and that should be recognized and appreciated," Vigile said.

Margaret Hofsink uses medical marijuana to treat symptoms of multiple sclerosis such as spasms in her legs, anxiety, depression and fatigue. She said mail order services don't provide the same degree of personalized care.

"They keep track of what you have and what you need and what you've used—that makes a big difference," she said.

Hofsink said Stittsville residents don't need to worry about what the dispensary might bring with it based on her experience at Magna Terra's other location on Carling Avenue.

"You don't see people standing smoking or using outside the place or anything like that. People come they get their stuff and they go. It's like going to a pharmacy." 

'I'm putting my neck on the line'

Vigile acknowledged he's in a legal grey-area, but said he wants to see rules on bricks-and-mortar marijuana dispensaries.

'I'm putting my neck on the line right now so that these people can have safe and convenient access to their medication," Vigile said.

"I feel the government should—and the city, for that matter...should come up with a sensible resolution in the meantime so that we're able to still provide their preferred method of accessing their medicine."

Vigile said he gets his products from licensed providers in British Columbia.

Qadri said the rules around dispensing medical marijuana are up to the federal government, not the city. He said he supports the use of medical marijuana with a doctor's prescription and distributed by licensed providers.

​"They are allowed to get that medicine from Tweed, via mail order system, and they're receiving that product in that fashion," Qadri said. "Why do we need an unlicensed, unauthorized facility to be able to preempt that process?"

The councillor said the building Magna Terra is using isn't zoned for retail, but it will be up to police to put an end to the dispensary.

​"I'm working with the police to see what kind of investigation they're working on and see if they can shut it down."