The move came a day after federal Health Minister Allan Rock announced that the Cabinet had approved new regulations that would allow licenses to be issued to people who are terminally ill or say they need to smoke marijuana to get relief from such illnesses as AIDS or multiple sclerosis.

Medical research has still to be done to prove or disprove the efficacy of marijuana in relieving pain or other chronic conditions. Tests are due to begin early next year, when federal scientists will begin receiving a supply of pure marijuana from a specially licensed farm that is currently growing its first crop of cannabis in an abandoned mine in Manitoba.

Nevertheless, Rock said the new regulations would come into effect on July 30, or exactly one year after the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled on July 31, 2000, that it was giving the federal government one year to come up with new marijuana regulations for medical purposes, as the old rules were unreasonable and unfair.

Rock said in a statement that special IDs would be issued to people who are legally permitted to smoke, possess or grow pot for medical purposes. They would not require approval from a medical practitioner, but need apply directly to the department, he said.

The new identifications could be shown to police as proof that the ID holders are legally smoking, possessing or growing marijuana, officials said.

The new regulations would make Canada the first country in the world to permit its citizens to legally use marijuana for medical purposes, and Rock said it "is a landmark."

However, those applying for the licenses will have to show clear symptoms associated with certain illnesses and with a prognosis of death within 12 months, symptoms associated with officially listed medical conditions, or with "symptoms associated with other medical conditions."

Though a landmark, the new regulations were not immediately hailed by activists campaigning for the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, who said there were no official suppliers to whom legal pot users could turn.

Licenses pot users will be permitted to grow their own plants under the new regulations, but another hitch was: Where do they get the seeds?

Jody Gomber, who heads the Office of Controlled Substances at the health department, said it was not the government's business to provide marijuana or seeds to people. "We don't actually have a source of seeds at this point in time," she said. However, "We have over 290 people who have been authorized to possess and or cultivate marijuana for medical purposes. We don't ask them where they got it from."

Officials said a formula is being drawn up "to calculate the number of plants permitted under a license to produce." The calculations would be "adjusted to reflect the estimated indoor and outdoor growing yields and margins of error."

Gomber said the department "is also concerned about potential health risks associated with the use of marijuana."

"We are not advocating the possession and use of marijuana," she said. "We are not encouraging it. We are not suggesting it's a good thing. What we're doing here is authorizing a certain activity that otherwise would be illegal under the law."

Source: United Press International
Published: Thursday, July 5, 2001
Copyright 2001 United Press International
Website: http://www.upi.com/

Related Articles & Web Site:

Canadian Links
http://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htm

Feds Get Off on Medical Pot
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10221.shtml

Canada Unveils Regulation for Use of Marijuana
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10220.shtml

Federal Regulations On Medicinal Pot
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10219.shtml

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What? Narcotic? I thought heroin and other opiates and opioids were narcotics.. who's telling bullshit now? It's like if you said that cofee or panadol were narcotics.

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