Scope kept limited for medical marijuana group

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

Plans by the city’s medical marijuana advisory committee to extend its scope seem to have gone up in smoke.

A motion from the Oshawa Accessibility Advisory Committee (OAAC) to extend the scope of the associated medical marijuana group was shut down at the most recent meeting of the development services committee following strong words from Councillor Bob Chapman.

The motion looked to have the mandate of the committee expanded to include meeting with staff about key developments in the field of medical marijuana and “to review relevant plans and to provide feedback to council and staff regarding medical marijuana related issues, businesses and facilities in the City of Oshawa.”

Chapman said this would only be adding another level of bureaucracy to the process and would give the group final say on potential developments.

“I don’t think that’s a wise move on our part,” he says. “By expanding their mandate…nothing can happen with medical marijuana…unless this group has a look at this.”

Currently, the group is only responsible for reporting on issues related to medical marijuana legislation, and Chapman says the proposed expansion is “far beyond what they should be doing,” and also seemed to take issue with the working group itself.

“I don’t believe it is totally an accessibility issue,” he said.

The vote to block the extension carried 3-2 with Councillors Chapman, Doug Sanders and Nester Pidwerbecki in favour and Councillor Dan Carter and Mayor John Henry opposed.

For Marko Ivancicevic, chair of the medical marijuana working group, the city is missing out on valuable information and councillors seem to have gotten the wrong idea.

“We didn’t want to have final say,” he says. “At the end of the day, we don’t want to be paper pushers. We just want to be able to provide input as well.”

Ivancicevic says the group has valuable experience in the field of medical marijuana and could provide advice on any potential dispensaries, vapour lounges or other facilities that may be proposed in the city.

“I’ve had hands-on experience in working in dispensaries and also helping develop business plans and acting as a consultant for individuals who are looking to open vapour lounges and things of that nature,” he says. “(We) could make a difference.”

While the issue still has a chance when it appears before council on March 21, Ivancicevic says he has taken issue with words that were said during the meeting, specifically Chapman stating his uncertainty of medical marijuana being an accessibility issue.

“For a member of council to go out and say something like that, it’s very contradictory,” he says. “It’s very concerning to see him conduct himself that way as a councillor.”

Ivancicevic says he has had good dealings with Chapman in the past and was surprised by his words.

“Comparing the dialogue that we’ve had over the years in relation to this, to see how he was acting…was very insulting,” he says. “Councillor Chapman crossed the line that I don’t think he really necessarily should have.”

Medical marijuana was identified as an accessibility issue in Oshawa’s 2013 to 2017 Accessibility Plan. The plan was approved by council in March 2013.

“To make the strides that we have…to have him come and say something like that in a public forum, against a motion that’s accessibility related…it’s infuriating.”