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Posted by FoM on April 27, 2002 at 08:06:36 PT By Robert Matas Source: Globe and Mail 
The pungent smell of marijuana seeps out the door of the low-rent apartment in Vancouver's east side, a few steps off Commercial Drive, the unofficial main street of the city's hip alternative-culture crowd.In a bedroom, several marijuana plants are flourishing under huge floodlights. Cuttings from marijuana plants are on a counter, sitting in water and starting to sprout roots. A plastic bag with fresh marijuana is on the table. Dozens of marijuana cigarette butts fill an ashtray in the living room. The setup is typical of the numerous illegal marijuana operations that police shut down across Canada. But this crop is legal. The 39-year-old man with AIDS who lives in this apartment is among the first Canadians federally licensed to grow marijuana for medical use. Earlier this month, bureaucrats in Ottawa said they did not know when marijuana grown in a Manitoba mine would be available to those licensed to obtain it under the government's much-touted medicinal-marijuana program. But authorized marijuana users do not have to depend on government for their grass, the Vancouver man said yesterday. He asked that only his first name, Lance, be used in order to protect his safety. Marijuana is available now for those licensed to grow their own crop, he said. "The public needs to know these gardens can exist for legitimate legal reasons," he said in an interview. "Certain attitudes [critical of marijuana use for medical reasons] have to change." Canada's medicinal-marijuana program, which is believed to be unique in the world, has been controversial. Activists who push for more open access to marijuana say the program points the way to a new approach to the drug that could meet the needs of many Canadians and wipe out the illegal marijuana trade, estimated to be worth more than $3-billion in B.C. alone. The Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Medical Protective Association oppose the program and have told doctors not to sign requests for federal approval to possess cannabis. Under rules introduced last summer, people expected to die within 12 months or those with severe illnesses can possess the drug. They can also grow it or have someone grow it for them. More than 250 kilograms of marijuana has been harvested by a Saskatoon-based company that the federal government has commissioned to grow the plants in a former copper mine near Flin Flon, 650 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. But distribution has been delayed indefinitely until officials figure out whether the drug should be treated in the same fashion as any pharmaceutical. Licences have been issued to 137 people to grow marijuana for their personal use, and 10 people have been authorized to designate another person to grow it for them, Health Canada spokesman Andrew Swift said from Ottawa. Note: With its pot supply stalled, Ottawa allows home production of medicinal marijuana. Source: Globe and Mail (Canada) Related Article & Web Site: Canadian Links Medicinal Marijuana Teahouse Shuttered CannabisNews Articles - Canada Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #1 posted by RavingDave on April 27, 2002 at 15:18:09 PT |
| Canada's medicinal-marijuana program, which is believed to be unique in the world, has been controversial. I'll say it's unique. I mean, I don't know of any other countries which allow medical marijuana, issue licenses to possess it, but then hold the supply just out of reach like the proverbial carrot-on-a-stick. Now the Netherlands, which just approved pharmacies to sell prescription cannabis, is another matter entirely. Far from torturing sick people, they have mercy in their hearts. I never thought of Canadians as puppets of the U.S. until now. Maybe it's "abote" time they stood up against their oppressive southern neighbors. [ Post Comment ] |
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