langley

By Dan Ferguson - Langley Times

The owner of the shuttered Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Langley has informed the courts that he will insist on a jury when his drug possession case goes to trial.

Randy Caine made the demand during a brief appearance in Surrey Provincial Court on Wednesday (Jan. 11).

Caine was charged with one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking after the RCMP raided the Langley City dispensary on July 19.

Officers seized more than eight pounds of marijuana and what an RCMP release described as “a large quantity of marijuana products, including cookies and candies” from the dispensary. Read more »

BY HEATHER COLPITTS, LANGLEY ADVANCE

The Langley Medical Marijuana Dispensary is back, providing pot for people with Health Canada permission to use it.

The doors opened Sept. 19, with dispensing resuming today (Tuesday).

The dispensary in the 20200 block of Fraser Highway was raided July 19, about 11 months after it opened.

Various strains of marijuana and baked goods containing marijuana were seized by the RCMP.

"Still to this day there haven't been any charges," noted Randy Caine, the Langley man who owns the dispensary.

Since the raid, the dispensary has been open to provide people with advice and assistance, although with only one staffer. A handful of other staff have been unemployed in the two months since the raid. Read more »

BY MATTHEW CLAXTON, LANGLEY ADVANCE

The former clients of a Langley medical marijuana dispensary raided by RCMP last month are organizing a petition and campaign to have it re-opened.

“People should be able to access medicine that has been prescribed by their doctor,” said Dan Mackle, who was the first client of the dispensary, which ran for about 11 months in Langley City on Fraser Highway.

Randy Caine, the local business owner who opened and operated the dispensary, was licensed by Health Canada to supply marijuana to three clients, but had about 150 active members when it was raided in July.

Police seized pot and baked goods along with some cash. Read more »

By Dan Ferguson - Langley Times

The manager of a Vancouver medical marijuana dispensary has offered help to the people trying to resurrect a similar dispensary in Langley.

Well-known marijuana activist Dana Larsen said assistance from the Vancouver Medicinal Cannabis Dispensary could include loans of money and marijuana on credit to re-establish the Langley Medical Marijuana Dispensary that was closed down following a July 19 raid by the Langley RCMP.

“Our dispensary has donated medicine and cash to other dispensaries that get into legal trouble,” Larsen told The Times.

The Vancouver dispensary has also offered help to the recently-raided North Island Compassion Club dispensary in Comox. Read more »

BY MATTHEW CLAXTON, LANGLEY ADVANCE

Tougher sentencing rules for drug traffickers are coming from the Canadian government soon, Canada's justice minister said during a visit to Langley

Rob Nicholson, justice minister and attorney general, met with Community Leaders for Justice Reform in Murrayville on Wednesday.

He said mandatory jail time for drug traffickers, importers and exporters, and marijuana growers will come soon.

"They're not going to like it," Nicholson said.

Nicholson also talked about recent changes to laws designed to protect children from sex predators, a recent megatrials bill designed to make longer jury trials easier to deal with, and removing the "faint hope clause" for lifetime sentences. Read more »

By Dan Ferguson - Langley Times

The Langley Medical Marijuana Dispensary that was shut down by police will be revived under new management and a different “member-driven” structure.

Randy Caine made the announcement Tuesday night at a public meeting with more than 100 supporters at the Douglas Recreation Centre.

“We will have another dispensary operating in this community in the not-too-distant future,” Caine said.

Caine added the new dispensary will not be located in the office that was raided by police last month and he, personally, will not be involved in its day-to-day operation.

“I have to step back [following the raid],” Caine said. Read more »

BY HEATHER COLPITTS, LANGLEY ADVANCE

"It's good to have a poop now," said Craig Pirart when asked what medical marijuana has done to help him.

He's on about $900 per month of presciption drugs, including heavy duty pain meds to deal with a broken hip eight years ago that led to 10 surgeries and finally amputation of his right leg.

Without the $90-100 of medical marijuana he was able to obtain each month through the Langley Medical Marijuana Dispensary, the 52-year-old former heavy equipment operator will be faced with having to double his prescription drug use.

The dispensary was raided by the RCMP on July 19. Iits pot varieties were seized along with baked goods containing marijuana. (See Pot dispensary owner wants to talk, Langley Advance, July 28.) Read more »

By Dan Ferguson - Langley Times

The police raid that closed the Langley Medical Marijuana Dispensary came after Langley City Councillor Rudy Storteboom complained to Mayor Peter Fassbender.

Both men confirmed there was a discussion in which the councillor brought up the dispensary, which is located in a condo unit next to a suite that Storteboom owns and leases to a hairdresser.

“He [Storteboom] indicated there was some concern,” Fassbender said.

“There was a break-in [at the dispensary] right after it opened,” Storteboom said.

The mayor said he told the councillor that if the strata council that represents the owners believed illegal activities were being carried out, they should go to the police. Read more »

By Dan Ferguson - Langley Times

Corey Reid assembles a marijuana joint on the front patio of his Langley townhouse.

“I had to buy this from an illegal drug dealer because the [Langley] dispensary is no longer available to me,” Reid says as he lights up.

“I had to support crime with this. Fantastic.”

Reid, a 24-year-old single dad, has a doctor’s prescription for the marijuana he uses to manage severe chronic pain from Osgood–Schlatter disease, a condition that has caused him several knee dislocations.

His right knee has a fresh seven-inch scar from the latest of five surgeries he’s endured since he was first diagnosed at 14.

His left knee has had one surgery so far, with another expected. Read more »

BY HEATHER COLPITTS, LANGLEY ADVANCE
Vancouver Sun

The owner of the Langley Medical Marijuana Dispensary which was raided by the RCMP July 19 wants to meet with the community.

Randy Caine has organized a townhall meeting for 7 p.m. on Aug. 2 at the Douglas Recreation Centre to hear from residents about their views on having a medical pot dispensary in their community.

"This has always been community driven," he said.

His downtown Langley dispensary on Fraser Highway, which has been open about 11 months, was the subject of an RCMP raid. Caine estimated they seized about $15,000 in pot and some baked goods with pot as well as some cash. Read more »