Cannabis News DrugSense
  Suit Aims to Force Ottawa To Supply Medical Pot
Posted by CN Staff on May 23, 2002 at 07:36:46 PT
Torstar News Service 
Source: Toronto Star 

medical A 38-year-old Burlington woman will be one of seven seriously ill Canadians who will step into the spotlight at a Queen's Park press conference in Toronto today in a bid to force the federal government to provide them with medical marijuana they are legally entitled to use.

The seven are named in a civil lawsuit being launched by Osgoode Hall law professor Alan Young and three of his former law students against Health Canada for its failure to "attend to the medical needs of sick people who use marijuana for therapeutic purposes".

Alison Myrden, who lives in Burlington, suffers from multiple sclerosis. She smokes marijuana every day when she can get it. She lives on a disability pension, so her mom and her boyfriend often provide the money to pay for it. She needs it to relieve otherwise constant facial pain from MS. Other applicants named in the legal action suffer from AIDS, hepatitis C, a spinal cord injury, epilepsy and depression. One is from rural Nova Scotia; six are from southwestern Ontario.

Myrden says she and hundreds of others with special authorization to use marijuana for medical reasons find the current laws "unacceptable." They can use marijuana without fear of being charged by police, but most have to buy it illegally from drug dealers and pay up to $300 for an ounce of the drug, the current black-market price.

"It's not a monetary suit. It's a civil suit because we're trying to get attention and change the Constitution," Myrden said in an interview.

Young expects an application to go before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in July. Federal lawyers have already objected to two dates he has requested, yet Young believes a court date will be set sometime in July. Too many sick people are involved to justify a delay, he said.

"The government has a nonsensical drug policy," said Young. "None of us are interested in suing for money. We're suing for binding legal rulings which will compel the government to do the right thing."

Young and his colleagues are suing under the Charter of Rights. They want the Marijuana Medical Access Regulation, which came into effect on July 30, 2001, struck down as unconstitutional, based on a failure of the federal government to attend to the needs of sick people.

The regulation allows people who are terminally ill, or those with MS, spinal chord injury or disease, cancer, AIDS/HIV infection, severe arthritis and epileptic seizures, to smoke marijuana. As well, those who have a serious medical condition in which conventional treatments have failed are also eligible, with declarations from two medical specialists.

In a release, Young and lawyer Leora Shemesh say they want the court to order the federal government to deal with the "thorny issue of supply and access."

The MMAR permits medical marijuana users to cultivate their own plants, or designate someone to grow marijuana for them, but Young and Shemesh say many are too ill and don't have the resources to look after cultivation.

The lawyers, in their release, say they want Ottawa to begin distributing "the hundreds of pounds of marijuana recently harvested in Manitoba under federal contract by Prairie Plant Systems. It is a cruel joke for Health Canada to have contracted for the production of medicinal marijuana and then simply allow the medicine to be destroyed because Health Canada has not yet established any distribution network for the provision of this medicine to exempted Canadians."

Andrew Swift, spokesperson for Health Canada, said Prairie Plant Systems, which has a $5.7 million contract to grow marijuana at an underground mine in Flin Flon, Man., hasn't produced a "standard strength" of marijuana. It harvested 75 kilograms (165 pounds) of marijuana but its strength wasn't consistent because the seeds came from RCMP raids. "The intention was to use seeds from the National Institute on Drug Abuse in the U.S., but they were not available." Swift stressed that once a strong and even strength strain of marijuana is produced, it will go to medical researchers for clinical trials.

Meanwhile, the number of authorized medical marijuana users in Canada grew by 50 from April to May. Swift said 255 people have received approval under the recent regulation and 658 were given federal exemptions starting in 1999, before the new guidelines were introduced.

"It's growing every month," said Swift.

Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Published: May 22, 2002
Copyright: 2002 The Toronto Star
Website: http://www.thestar.com/
Contact: lettertoed@thestar.com

Related Articles & Web Sites:

CALM: http://www.cannabisclub.ca/

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

Canada Medical Marijuana: http://www.medicalmarihuana.ca/

The Marijuana Mission: http://www.themarijuanamission.com/

Kitchener Woman Plans Pot Suit: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12923.shtml

Ailing Canadians to Sue for Promised Pot: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12915.shtml

Analysis: Canada Seeks Standardized Hash: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12835.shtml

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Comment #6 posted by Naaps on May 23, 2002 at 13:22:06 PT
Kaptinemo, Sir,
The House of Commons carries much more weight because the Members of Parliament are elected. They are comprised of different parties representing their ridings. The real seat of power is the Prime Minister and his cabinet, from the majority party in the house.

Known as the chamber for sober second thoughts, the Senate is populated by political appointees. The Senate has the power to veto a Bill from becoming Law, but they don’t generate Bills, merely stamp them as they pass through. Senators represent their Province, not particular ridings.

The Senate suffered some scandal previously when it was revealed that a number of Senators don’t even attend, one even lived fulltime in Mexico, not even bothering to show his face, but still collecting his pay. Many people have called for abolishment of the Senate.

The Senate hasn’t killed a Bill in years. The closest I recall was when PM Brian Malroney wanted to pass his GST bill, but the Senate had more Liberal Party appointees than Progressive Conservative Party appointees. The Prime Minister just added a couple more seats for some new Senators whom he selected, and the Bill passed.

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Comment #5 posted by Hope on May 23, 2002 at 12:42:46 PT
Stakeholders?
The following is a sentence from http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfoComDoc/37/1/SNUD/Studies/References/SNUDTermsRef-e.htm

"The following issues are intended to focus discussions with expert witnesses, stakeholders and the public at large."

Who would "stakeholders be?

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on May 23, 2002 at 12:11:37 PT:

Naaps, please pardon this American's ignorance
about your parliamentary procedures, but which House carries the most weight? House of Commons, or Senate?

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #3 posted by Naaps on May 23, 2002 at 09:47:52 PT
The House of Commons Committee
Yesterday, I posted concerns about the special committee which perennial prohibitionist, often quoted, MP Randy White is the Vice Chair.

The House of Commons Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs has the website address:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfoCom/CommitteeMain.asp?Language=E&CommitteeID=217&Joint=0

At first glance the information appears sparse but clicking Evidence and Index, under House of Commons, in the rectangular box marked Parliament of Canada opens pages of testimony.

I haven’t perused the site to make any definitive statements, but with a glance it appears the police are being thoroughly consulted…

Recall that after MP Dr. Keith Martin touched the speaker’s mace, Liberal MP Ralph Goodall declared that Martin Private Member’s Bill on Cannabis Decriminalization was premature until the results of the House of Commons Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs were presented. I seriously wonder if the House Committee trumps the Senate Committee by proposing fixes opposite to what the Senate Committee suggests.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on May 23, 2002 at 09:00:13 PT:

Either the Canadian courts or the Canadian voters
will decide this matter. The Grits had better awaken to this fact, and soon; the Chretien Regime will be not be remembered kindly for it's incredibly jejune handling of this entire matter.



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo MD on May 23, 2002 at 08:26:42 PT:

The End is Likely Near
At least in Canada. I have gotten to know Alison Myrden a little bit, and I feel sorry for any bureaucrat that would try to stand in her way. They would be left in the dust. She is a very compelling proponent of clinical cannabis, and is extremely dedicated.

It is a shame that this gets no press in the USA. It is these Canadian activists that will ultimately spark changes south of the Great White North.

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