VIANARCHRIS
Well-Known Member
Canada Post says packages are intercepted if they are not from authorized medical pot producers
A Vancouver Island man says he is caught between new rules and an old system still working through the court system after medical marijuana he tried to send by mail was seized.
Last week, Ryan Malazdrewicz of Ucluelet, B.C., tried to ship a small package containing pot to his wife who is away visiting family in Alberta.
Malazdrewicz said both he and his wife received licences several years ago to produce and possess medical marijuana, and they use it to treat pain following a car accident.
But Malazdrewicz said his package never left the Ucluelet post office. When he asked why, he said staff told him it had been seized.
"Right now they are stopping my wife, a law abiding citizen, from accessing her cannabis," he said.
In a statement, Canada Post said there are controls for shipping marijuana because it is a prohibited substance outside of prescribed medical use.
If marijuana is detected in a package that does not come from an authorized distributor, it is intercepted for further investigation, the postal service said.
New regulations
Health Canada brought in new rules in 2013 for the production of medical marijuana.
Under the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations there are only six companies in B.C. that are authorized distributors.
But the rights of existing licence holders such as Malazdrewicz are still before the courts, and he said it is frustrating that his package was seized.
"I would like to see the RCMP actually work on what I would consider to be crime," he said.
Malazdrewicz said he either wants his package returned or sent to his wife in Alberta.
RCMP have yet to comment on the matter.
A Vancouver Island man says he is caught between new rules and an old system still working through the court system after medical marijuana he tried to send by mail was seized.
Last week, Ryan Malazdrewicz of Ucluelet, B.C., tried to ship a small package containing pot to his wife who is away visiting family in Alberta.
Malazdrewicz said both he and his wife received licences several years ago to produce and possess medical marijuana, and they use it to treat pain following a car accident.
But Malazdrewicz said his package never left the Ucluelet post office. When he asked why, he said staff told him it had been seized.
"Right now they are stopping my wife, a law abiding citizen, from accessing her cannabis," he said.
In a statement, Canada Post said there are controls for shipping marijuana because it is a prohibited substance outside of prescribed medical use.
If marijuana is detected in a package that does not come from an authorized distributor, it is intercepted for further investigation, the postal service said.
New regulations
Health Canada brought in new rules in 2013 for the production of medical marijuana.
Under the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations there are only six companies in B.C. that are authorized distributors.
But the rights of existing licence holders such as Malazdrewicz are still before the courts, and he said it is frustrating that his package was seized.
"I would like to see the RCMP actually work on what I would consider to be crime," he said.
Malazdrewicz said he either wants his package returned or sent to his wife in Alberta.
RCMP have yet to comment on the matter.
