'Why is cannabis treated like a firearm?' Cannabis users protest police raids in Regina
Patty Wood says cannabis helped her deal with the chemotherapy that beat her breast cancer.
"I used cannabis to help me through it all," she said as she, along with some 40 other people, protested outside of Regina Police Services' station Friday afternoon.
Wood and others at the protest took issue with Regina Police Service's raids of marijuana dispensaries, which came after police warnings for illegal dispensaries to shut down.
"Why is cannabis treated like a firearm?" she asked, pointing to the use of opiates and crystal meth as bigger drug issues in Regina. Wood said the raids on marijuana dispensaries hurt patients who depend on cannabis for relief of their symptoms.
"The system's not working for the patients right now."
Patients do have the option to use a mail order system to access cannabis, but Wood said she had no interest in going through such a process, saying there was "no accountability" with such a system.
She said that in her experience visiting Regina dispensary Best Buds Society, she appreciated that there was a person on-site who could speak to her about the effects of different products, and how she could use these products to heal her body.
Organizers of the protest say patients' rights are being pushed aside, limiting access to cannabis products they need, in the lead-up to marijuana legalization later this year.
Police warn of crackdown
Regina Police had issued warnings to marijuana dispensaries about continuing to operate before the legalization of marijuana. On March 28 they followed up on those warnings, raiding six dispensaries.
Best Buds Society owner Pat Warnecke and three of his employees were charged under the Controlled Drug and Substance Act after Warnecke's refused to cease operating after being raided.
Elizabeth Popowich, a spokesperson for the Regina Police Service, said protest organizers had asked for, and received, a permit to protest and amplify sound at the event.
She noted that the law lays out regulations around access to cannabis for medical purposes, and that people can access cannabis legally through Health Canada.
The Regina Police Service is not responsible for the legislation and rules surrounding the access of marijuana, she said.
"Today's protest tells us that there are people who perhaps don't agree. And that's their right," she said, adding that police respect people's right to protest peacefully.