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| Medical Marijuana Big Expense To Needy |
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Posted by FoM on August 24, 2001 at 09:24:42 PT By Donald Appleby Source: Winnipeg Free Press 
My name is Donald Appleby and I have AIDS. Currently I am on a heavy regime of anti-AIDS drugs and I must have my exemption for medicinal marijuana. Health Minister Allan Rock stood outside the House and said that Canadians could distinguish between compassionate use and recreational use of marijuana but it would appear that his own Health Department can't seem to make up their minds. I've carried in my pocket a prescription for marijuana from my family doctor for over two years now and the department refused to recognize his right to prescribe. But this is an issue between me and my doctor. Rock and his department need to butt out. I have been a grower of pot for some five years now. You should have some idea about what it costs to grow good marijuana. First off, you need the lights, the metal halide for vegetative growth and sodium vapour for flowering and they are not cheap. Cost for seeds are dear. I've spent over $400 just on seeds. There's air conditioning to cool in the summer and fans to move air in the winter. There are ozone machines to control smell and odours, $400 more; dehumidifiers to remove moisture to avoid mould and bacteria that are enemies of the plants. Fans everywhere to move the air around, pots, trays, soil, pro-mix and, last but not least, fertilizer. Carbon dioxide machines to replenish CO2 lost, timers, powerbars, mylar to reflect light. Nutrients have to be bought and they aren't cheap either, maybe $250. Ph has to be adjusted and those meters cost $100 as well as the light meters to test the efficiency of your lights. Add to this the cost of rent and Hydro and you find yourself going broke to pay for your medication. The only alternative is to give a drug dealer $600 per month and I just refuse to do that anymore. The government will allow one person to grow for three additional people. Well, at three grams per day, that's 360 grams a month. That's a lot of pot to grow. You would need to buy a lot more equipment and grow hundreds of plants. My last crop of 22 plants netted me only 100 grams of dried bud, but that was an organic experiment. Usually I can grow 200 grams from 24 plants in three months and I still run out. Plus there is a need to keep four or five healthy mothers for cloning and breeding programs so that I can develop better crosses of hybrids. All of this costs money and nowhere in the guidelines do I see where it says who is going to pay. If it is the patient who is to bear the cost, then we must recoup our investment from them. It isn't cheap. I think that the government needs to make small business loans available to those with exemptions so that we may do what it is that we do. I don't have a problem with authorities knowing what I do but your application process has left many people unfairly hanging in the wind. Thank God that we now have judges who are awarding compensation for this treatment by your department. Two years later and $4,000 invested, not to mention a $100 bill from my doctor to fill out forms to document my death to your department's satisfaction and you won't even pay for that. The response I get from your department is that it is in the permit business, not the refund business. It would appear that you will not pay for anything, so excuse me if my confidence in the government's ability to deal with this crisis is waning. How can I suggest others get involved when your department continues to put up roadblock after roadblock. And after the treatment that I've received, I'm not likely to recommend this process to anyone. It's certainly helped kill me. Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB) Related Articles & Web Site: Canadian Links Drugs in Canada - Gone To Pot Acting High Above The Law CannabisNews Articles - Canada Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #3 posted by FoM on September 03, 2001 at 12:14:41 PT |
| I just wanted say keep up the good work. You're doing a great job. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #2 posted by Alison Myrden on September 03, 2001 at 12:04:40 PT:
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| In response to a letter from a fellow Federal Medical Marijuana Exemptee Donald Appleby printed August 24, 2001 in the Winnipeg Free Press: You tell 'em Donny ! Sad that most of us, as sick and ailing individuals, are placed in such an unnecessary, unsafe and precarious postion of having to GROW our own Medicine. As another Exemptee, Catherine Devries stated another time in the Toronto Star - Would the Government make Diabetics go to the street for their insulin ?? We think not. We have to teach the Government of Canada NOT to be afraid of this innocuous, harmless plant by educating them on the good, bad and ugly. We ALL need to hear it. Truth be told, there are not alot of BAD things that we have been able to find - Anywhere. We are not blinded by the "High" that is oft times associated with Cannabis. If you do your homework, you would know that "those who support Medical use emphasize not only effacy in reducing pain, but that those who take it obtain no pleasure from it !" (Marijuana Rescheduling Petition 1988:47) As someone who has been very sick most of my life, I took on the arduous task of teaching my Doctors and other relevant Health Care Professionals all about the plant that I CHOSE as Medicine seven years ago. Donny has elaborated on the Grower's end and the need for Government assistance in this thoroughly despicable issue - that the Government - has created. We have come so far already that we are all - somewhat - pleased. We are not done. We need for this to continue. The sick and dying people of the World should not be made to stand up and fight this issue alone !! Get some compassion and some backbone Canada. Help us to teach the United Nations. We know they are watching.... I applaud people like Donny who have the energy and the stamina to fight the Canadian Government for people like himself and me. It makes me cry to think that they too, are touched by this isolating, often depressing and extremely draining fight with Medical Marijuana. Unless you are ailing, or literally on your deathbed and have ever turned to Cannabis, you will NEVER understand the emotions involved. It's almost like a Religion. Cannabis is here to stay if I have anything to say about it. God knows, I am not dying from MS and the pain in my face. I am sick though, because of the shame and embarrassment the Canadian Government makes me feel every time I lite up for relief. Put them in a corner, let them have their "medicine", but not around me... I just want Donny and all to know, I am here to help all of you educate and inform others on the therapeutic benefits of Cannabis. (example: Smoking is the fastest route of administration and the easiest to titrate. This is my route by choice to relieve an excruciating pain in my face assiciated with Multiple Sclerosis, that I live with around the clock.) We have to enter this issue very slowly and teach people that the only thing to fear with this incredible plant is fear itself..... Please check out our Exemptee Pages on our Website to see what we have gone through to get Exempt from Sectiom 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Congratulations Donny Appleby again on your on-going battle with your right to your source and supply of MEDICINE. I for one, am watching you.... Your friend in this battle, Alison Myrden [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by The Offspring on August 25, 2001 at 05:38:46 PT |
| Legalize Cannabis and all your problems will go away. [ Post Comment ] |
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