Pot protesters call for mass phone-in to Kelowna mayor

KELOWNA – With the tang of marijuana smoke in the air, anti-cannabis prohibition activist Dana Larsen lead a protest outside City Hall this afternoon against what he says are Kelowna’s outdated bylaws regulating medical marijuana dispensaries.

“Let’s help show Kelowna council they do have an option, they have the option to follow the Vancouver model and now the Kelowna model,” Larsen told supporters, May 11.

He says the protest stems from the ongoing enforcement action against Kaya Clinic, a dispensary downtown which has twice been raided in recent months by Kelowna RCMP although no charges have been laid.

“We have the option and the City of Kelowna should respond to the people here today, those who have been driving by and showing their support for accessing this medicine by people who need it,” Larsen says.

He is calling on supporters of medical marijuana dispensaries to phone, en masse, Kelowna mayor Colin Basran over the coming week to show their support.

“We want to show that we want dispensaries in Kelowna and we don’t want them wasting tax dollars on endless prohibition that is going to be a waste of time anyway,” he added.

Larsen operates two dispensaries in Vancouver where council there has moved in recent weeks to introduce a legislative model to regulate the estimated 80 dispensaries which have opened up there in the last year.

Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose has urged Vancouver council to reject the plan to regulate dispensaries, pointing out that marijuana is still illegal and Ottawa believes the move would normalize marijuana consumption by youth.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.