Epp supports mayor's petition

OTTAWA – Dave Epp, Member of Parliament for Chatham-Kent—Leamington, recently voiced his support for the petition by Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald, which calls upon the government to reform licensing and oversight for cannabis produced for personal medical use.

“Currently, many medical cannabis growing licenses are abused, and the excess that is grown is diverted for commercial sale on the black market. These illegal grow-ops have negative impacts on our neighbourhoods by generating unpleasant odours, increasing traffic levels, and reducing property values,” said Epp. “Additionally, municipal law enforcement has little to no power over these grow-ops, resulting in infrequent action to prevent their operations. We commend the recent raids and arrests by the OPP, but understand that current regulations drastically hinder their abilities to address these operations as well.”

“This is enabled, in part, by Health Canada’s grossly inaccurate yield estimates that enable an individual medical licensee to grow over 10 times the recommended daily dosage,” continued Epp. “The federal government has also failed to examine and inspect personal medical cannabis production, allowing the black and grey markets to thrive under current circumstances.”

MacDonald started the petition, hoping to prompt change in Health Canada’s regulations.

“They need to have more oversight over the Tier 2 cannabis sector,” she said. “these guys are growing far beyond the limits of a prescription.”

Mayor MacDonald also questioned where all of the prescriptions are coming from, as several people are joining forces with their prescriptions in order to inflate the amount of cannabis they can grow.

Anyone interested in adding their support to this petition can add their signature online at the following link:https:// petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?- Petition=e-3414.