2 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, MARCH 17,2016 EDITOR MARK STUART tlarge 7" aa JENNA TYTGAT photo Jarrod Cook (left) and Trevor Mills (right) in Cook’s room at the George Pearson Centre. Mills has been helping Cook transcribe his book since September. Strangers step up to type book Jarrod Cook, an MS patient, crowdsourced help to finish his novel 66 ITamnot as dumb as I look. When you talk to me, you can’t tell I’m able to write that well JARROD COOK AUTHOR By JENNA TYTGAT man with multiple sclerosis (MS) who is trying to finish his novel has received an outpour- ing of support after his friend made an open call on Facebook for help. Trevor Mills, a close friend of Jarrod Cook, reached out to people on Face- book in a bid to help Cook finish his book. Cook is a resident at the George Pearson Centre, a long-term residen- tial care facility, and is only able to dic- tate due to his condition. According to Mills, the response to the Facebook post was very positive. “[There were] nice comments and an outpouring of positive energy, [even from] some people not in the city,” Mills said. “It resonated with people, I think. It got the conversation going.” Mills described Cook’s book, Ponder- ations, as philosophical. “Tt’s really fun stuff that [Cook is] talking about,” said Mills, “It’s accessi- ble [and] I think refreshing language.” Cook agreed that Mills’ description was close. “T want people to think,” Cook said. “Many people have opinions, however, they don’t think about their opinions or ponder.” Cook has had six people help him transcribe so far, including Mills. After the open call on Facebook, an- other 10 people have volunteered to help. The sessions usually last two to three hours and Mills said that right now the book is in the editing stage. “It’s something [Cook] and I have to talk about: who he wants to come in and in what capacity,” Mills said. Heather Morrison, a friend of Cook’s and member of the Community and Residents Mentors Association at George Pearson Centre, said Cook is determined to publish the book he’s been working on since 1999. “He is entirely stubborn,” Morrison said. “That’s what keeps him going.” “He has a very strong will and I don’t know many people who could go through what [Cook] has and survive as well as he has.” Cook said he is thankful for the peo- ple who don’t write him off, adding that there is more to him than people see off the bat. “T am not as dumb as I look,” Cook joked. “When you talk to me, you can’t tell ’m able to write that well.” Mills said the next step is creating a video for Cook and, possibly, a fund- raiser page. South Van at ease with the monarchy This year’s Commonwealth Day theme was an “inclu- sive Commonwealth” By ALISON PUDSEY ing Commonwealth Day, a day that isn’t widely recognized or cel- ebrated in Canada. Community members gathered at the Marpole-Oakridge Community Centre on March 18 for the annual celebration of Commonwealth Day. Once known as Empire Day, it was renamed in 1958 and is celebrated on the second Monday in March. It is a day that recognizes the relationship be- tween the 53 independent and sovereign states and Great Britain. Queen Elizabeth II, Head of the Com- monwealth, delivers an annual message as part of the celebrations to the former British colonies to honour their contin- ued relationship. Shawn Wade, president of the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) branch for B.C. mainland believes Common- wealth Day is important to Canada. He is a strong advocate for it to be com- memorated nationally. Wade added that they host an event S"= Vancouverites are embrac- every year to showcase the sights and sounds of the Commonwealth by listen- ing to music and reading a pre-prepared message from the Queen. “We have some musicians perform- ing, some jazz-inspired renditions, we have some Afro-Carib drummers who do a bit of fusion tradition of music from the various Commonwealth countries, so we celebrate it that way,” Wade said. He explained this year’s theme of an “inclusive Commonwealth” signifies in- clusiveness within the community. “It’s not just people who come from Commonwealth countries. We have Syr- ian refugees here now; inclusiveness [means] they are a part of Canada. We have the various ethnic groups, the [LG- BTQ] community, we include every- one,” said Wade. Jagessar Das, president of the Kabir Association of Canada, an association of South Asians in Vancouver, said he wel- comes this celebration in his neighbour- hood. “It is probably a good thing to cele- brate this day as it indicates that a cer- tain number of countries once belonged to the British Empire,” said Das. “These countries still respect the monarchy and they adhere to democra- cy.” ALISON PUDSEY photo Afro-Caribbean drummers play during Commonwealth Day celebrations. SHAWN WADE President, RCS 66 We have Syrian ref- ugees here now; inclu- siveness [means] that they are part of Canada Pundits disagree on marijuana testing In the wake of rejected dispensary applications, debate over pot testing methods rages on By JAKE WRAY proposed medical marijuana test- At lab and storefront dispensary in South Vancouver has been re- jected by Vancouver’s Board of Vari- ance as medical marijuana pundits continue to dispute the safest and most accurate testing methods. The board is currently conducting appeals for dispensaries that have ap- plied for business licences and been rejected. During the most recent round of ap- peals on March 2, the BC Medical Mari- huana Research Society was denied permission to open a combined mari- juana testing lab and storefront dis- pensary at 610 SE Marine Dr. The Voice made a number of inqui- ries attempting to determine whether medical pot is being properly tested. Pamela McColl, a Vancouver-based spokesperson for anti-pot legislation group Smart Approaches to Marijua- na, said storefront dispensaries aren’t safe. “These entities that are selling on the streets are, I consider, a public health threat. They’re being run by people who don’t have the credentials to be administering a drug product, they aren’t being tested, they are being supplied by the black ket,” sh sid SOUTH VAN McColl said that dispensaries officially licensed medical marijuana products that are tested by Health Canada are the saf- est option. “If you really wanted to obtain marijuana for a medical purpose, you're really better IMEDIKATE DISPENSARY SOCIETY 6128 Fraser St. SEA TO SKY ALTERNATIVE HEALING SOCIETY 6636 Fraser St. served to go MMJ CANADA through = Health SOCIETY Canada’s pro- 8265 Main St. grams,” said Mc- Coll. “Protect your- self from pesticides and contaminants, which they do test for.” Rejean Houle, owner of Budzilla Dis- pensary Clinic in Vancouver, has start- ed an online video-series project in which he collects samples of marijuana sold by officially licensed producers and sends them to a lab at UBC for test- ing. Houle said the tests show that li- censed producers aren’t properly la- belling their products. “We've had so far 12 samples, noth- ing has come back true [to its label]. The best case scenario was an over- statement of THC, claiming 25 per cent more than was actually in the product itself,” Houle said. Dana Larsen, spokesperson for mar- ijuana advocacy group Sensible BC, said he isn’t surprised the testing lab was rejected because Vancouver's reg- ulatory process for marijuana busi- nesses is unclear and overly broad. “T know at least one seed bank that had to shut down because the City was threatening them, saying they were selling marijuana seeds, and that’s a dispensary, [so] that’s a huge differ- ence [from a testing lab],” said Larsen. “Other seed banks are being left alone, so the City is very arbitrary and confused about their own rules.”