UPDATE: The medical cannabis farmers market scheduled to take place in Vancouver this Sunday has been canceled.
Event organizers at Medi Brothers Collective, a Vancouver-based medical marijuana delivery service, canceled the event Friday after the Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay pulled the event’s contract, said Mike Sutherland, director of Medi Brothers.
The Red Lion pulled the contract at the request of the city of Vancouver, Sutherland said.
This story will be updated.
Here is the original story:
A Vancouver-based medical marijuana delivery service is hosting a farmers market this weekend for patients who use medical cannabis.
The Cannabis Community Farmers Market will give medical marijuana users an opportunity to purchase cannabis, visit vendors and hear from guest speakers. The speakers will cover a variety of topics, including how new laws associated with the passage of Initiative 502, which will legalize recreational use of marijuana for adults, may affect medical cannabis users; cannabis smoking methods; and plant growing techniques and tips.
The free event is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay Convention Center, 100 Columbia Street. The guest speakers will take the stage at about noon.
The farmers market is only open to medical cannabis patients. Patients must present their physician-issued medical cannabis referral and state identification to enter the event.
The event host, Medi Brothers Collective, is a year-old operation that provides medical marijuana delivery service to Clark and Cowlitz counties.
Unlike some other Washington counties, Clark County does not have any stores that sell medical marijuana to patients, said Mike Sutherland, director of Medi Brothers Collective. Seattle has more than 100 access points; Tacoma has about 80, he said.
Sutherland hopes the farmers market will give patients a much-needed local access point.
“Either we can promote the black market and people can buy in the parks and the schoolyards, or we can have a safe access,” Sutherland said.
Medi Brothers would like to host farmers markets every month until the state allows marijuana retailers to open shops, Sutherland said. Initiative 502 gives the state up to a year to establish a system of state-licensed marijuana growers, processors and retail stores.
For more information about Sunday’s event, visit the Medi Brothers Collective Facebook page, www.facebook.com/medibrotherscollective.
Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546; http://twitter.com/col_health; http://facebook.com/reporterharshman; marissa.harshman@columbian.com.
