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| MS Sufferer Accuses Ottawa Of Dragging Its Heels |
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Posted by FoM on April 23, 2002 at 11:55:16 PT By Robb Swybrous Source: Burlington Post 
Already fighting a battle with multiple sclerosis, Alison Myrden says she's tired of having to battle Health Canada, too. The Burlington resident, and federal medical marijuana exemptee, says the government is dragging its heels when it comes to producing a reliable, affordable source of marijuana for chronic pain sufferers. Since 1999, almost 700 Canadians have been given exemptions to possess medical marijuana. "I am still buying my medicine from the street; I am still spending up to $1,200 every month," she said. "Nothing has changed, the government still doesn't have a source for me." Myrden, 38, was diagnosed with MS in 1992, but says she has suffered from its symptoms since she was a teenager. Myrden says because of the disease she has a debilitating pain in her face; pain that used to mean taking 32 prescription pills and 600 milligrams of morphine each day. Now she smokes a few grams of marijuana instead of the pills to relieve the symptoms. It's become a way of life for her. "The pain in my face is so excruciating that if I don't catch it in time with marijuana, no pills will work," she said. "It's not just about smoking pot, it's about quality of life." For its part, Health Canada has been moving, however slowly, to create a environment where patients like Myrden will be able to access medicinal marijuana. Following years of lobbying, the federal government, in 1999 under Health Minister Allan Rock, set out guidelines for exempting people like Myrden from the criminal charges associated with possession of marijuana. Last July, Health Canada subsequently set out medical marijuana access regulations that included application processes for three groups of potential exemptees. Group 1 is for people who suffer from life-threatening diseases and have a life expectancy of fewer than 12 months. Group 2 consists of people suffering from chronic illnesses like AIDS, cancer and MS. Group 3 is a catch-all category for people suffering chronic pain from diseases not named in the first two groups. The government also contracted a private, Saskatchewan-based company called Prairie Plant Systems to grow a government supply of marijuana in an abandoned mine in Flin Flon, Man. Myrden says she's happy to at least have her exemption but is anxious to know exactly when the government is going to come through with a steady, safe and effective supply of pot. "I haven't had one call from Health Canada offering medicine from Flin Flon," she said. But Andrew Swift, a spokesperson for Health Canada, says Myrden isn't the only one who hasn't been contacted about the government's pot supply. He says no one has because neither the marijuana, nor the distribution system to administer it, is available yet. "We are working with Prairie to develop the manufacturing and processing requirements," Swift said. "Our expectation is this will take some time and the timeline is not arbitrary, it's based on a scientific process." According to Swift, the government eliminated a major barrier for medicinal marijuana by creating the exemptions and continues to work quickly to ready its supply of medical pot. But since marijuana has never been used as a prescription drug in this country, ironing out the logistics is time-consuming. And, adds Swift, once the pot is ready, Health Canada is going to want to maintain contact with users for study purposes. "The marijuana will be used for research purposes," Swift said. "We've done funding into research into the effectiveness of medical marijuana. At this point really it's all anecdotal. There's no real science behind the effectiveness of marijuana." Myrden says she doesn't need a study to realize the effectiveness of using pot as medicine and there's no need for any further studies for people like her once the federal pot supply is made available. "That's how we got our exemptions in the first place; because we are really sick." she said. "I cannot go without it." Too bad, says Swift. Medical marijuana users will be subject to Health Canada monitoring. Adding to the stress associated with waiting for her drugs, says Myrden, is the worry that federally-supplied medicinal marijuana might not be potent enough to ease her pain. After smoking a certain type of marijuana for years, Myrden has become what users call strain specific and is worried the government's pot won't contain a high enough concentration of THC to make her pain go away. (THC is the active ingredient in marijuana; the higher THC, the greater its effect). Myrden is also concerned about the quality of marijuana grown in what used to be a mine. She fears it may contain traces of heavy metals -- metals she does not want to inhale. Swift, however, said the marijuana is being grown in a controlled system with adequate THC content. And he said Prairie Plant Systems had to comply with federal safety standards in the contracting process and is confident the marijuana will be free of dangerous metals. Still, Myrden is skeptical and frustrated. It's been a long fight for her and a group of medical marijuana advocates who operate a Web-based network of support at: http://www.themarijuanamission.com She knows she needs marijuana to be comfortable and can't understand why a federally-sponsored supply is not yet ready. "We should be able to go to the pharmacy and get it," she said. "It can't cost more than $2 to grow an ounce. It's like growing tomatoes." Source: Burlington Post (CN ON) Related Articles & Web Sites: The Marijuana Mission Medical Marijuana Information Links CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives Marijuana Must Go Through Trials Medicinal-Marijuana Harvest on Hold Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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Comment #4 posted by freddybigbee on April 24, 2002 at 12:30:42 PT:
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| The founders were forward looking, and did an excellent job overall; too bad they dropped the ball on medical freedom. I doubt that many anticipated that medicine would merge with government to the extent it has, or Rush's advice would have been heeded. Govt. has such coercive power over M.D.s via their license to dispense controlled substances that most doctors won't recommend medical MJ even if they think it will help. It's just not worth risking the practice they've worked so hard to build. I fear that Conant vs Walters case will go to the Supreme court if the injunction stands up in the ninth-circuit. The current supreme court scares the hell out of me. There seem to be few limits to their contempt for freedom. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on April 24, 2002 at 07:19:07 PT:
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| FreddyBigB wrote: The founders of the US could never have anticipated that any of their successors would stoop so low as to claim control of medicinal herbs as a means of forcing people to defy the law so they could seize their property and imprison them. Well, sad to say, one of the Founders did foresee the ugly day: "Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship ... the Constitution of this Republic should make special provision for medical freedom as well as religious freedom."-- Benjamin Rush, M.D., 1745-1813, Signer, Declaration of Independence Very forward looking guys, those Founders... [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #2 posted by freddybigbee on April 24, 2002 at 05:49:13 PT:
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| Once again we see that animals (other than humans) have more basic rights than humans (see link). The right to self-medicate with whatever herbs one finds beneficial is so basic that it was not specified in the constitution. The founders of the US could never have anticipated that any of their successors would stoop so low as to claim control of medicinal herbs as a means of forcing people to defy the law so they could seize their property and imprison them. As Ayn Rand pointed out in Atlas Shrugged, if everyone obeys the law the govt can't "put the squeeze on them." You need unjust laws that noone in their right mind could obey in order to give evil govt. creeps the means to rape and pillage their countrymen. On a more imaginative note, if benevolent super-intelligent aliens (by our standards) visited earth say, ten thousand years ago and wanted to give our planet a gift, what might it be like? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo MD on April 23, 2002 at 12:48:39 PT |
| I have spoken to Alison on the phone at length several times. She is one of a growing population of selfless individuals who could quietly go on using their medicine in anonymity, but have chosen instead to attempt to help everyone in the same predicament. She is to be commended. It is easy to be silent, when rage against the machine is so difficult and fraught with dangers. [ Post Comment ] |
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