cannabisnews.com: Pot Law a Bust - Critics





Pot Law a Bust - Critics
Posted by FoM on July 31, 2001 at 11:36:49 PT
By Jane Davenport, The Gazette
Source: Montreal Gazette
Regulations allowing authorized Canadians to grow and use marijuana for medicinal purposes came into force yesterday - trailing so much red tape that patients are scarcely better off than when they started, critics of the new rules say. "Thanks to the Ontario Court of Appeals, medical marijuana is a constitutional right in Canada, so the government has to be pretty careful in how they tread in limiting people's access to that right," Marijuana Party leader Marc-Boris St-Maurice said. 
"This regulation will not survive repeated attacks, and it will be attacked." Under amendments to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act announced in April, people suffering from severe forms of arthritis can now obtain the right to possess and smoke marijuana legally if they can prove other pain-killing drugs have been ineffective. To Ease Symptoms The rules also allow terminally ill patients, and those with AIDS, multiple sclerosis, spinal-cord injuries, epilepsy and other serious conditions to use the drug if it eases their symptoms. But there's no point in being allowed to smoke it if you can't obtain it, a volunteer at Montreal's Compassion Club argued yesterday - and Canada's only authorized distributor is busy growing plants in a mine shaft in Flin Flon, Man. "The main problem is that there's no point of sale - there's nowhere to buy it besides the compassion clubs," said Christian, a club volunteer who goes by his first name only. The initial harvest from the world's first government-run marijuana-cultivation centre in Flin Flon, operated by Prairie Plant Systems Inc., is expected this fall. Federal Health Minister Allan Rock is planning a visit to the high-security site this week. Buying pot from anyone else remains illegal, which means that compassion clubs - which distribute marijuana illegally to patients for medical use - still find themselves on the wrong side of the law. "Nothing has changed," the founder of Toronto-based Cannabis as Living Medicine said. "The regulations need to incorporate cannabis clubs to get the job done properly." CALM currently distributes pot to 300 people, only 30 of whom are among the 292 Canadians who have been exempted from federal law criminalizing possession and use of marijuana, said Neeve, who also goes by his first name only. Of 100 people from as far away as New Brunswick who obtain pot from Montreal's Compassion Club, only about 10 have exemptions, Christian said. Applications to use marijuana under the new regulations must be endorsed by at least one - and in some cases two - physicians, which Neeve said presents another stumbling block. "The reality hasn't changed in that people are still calling me and telling me their physicians don't want to get involved in marijuana," he said. The Quebec College of Physicians reiterated yesterday that doctors should not prescribe marijuana because the medical benefits, side-effects and proper dosages have not yet been determined through clinical trials. A groundbreaking study to measure the effectiveness of pot as pain-relief medication is to begin at the McGill pain clinic at the Montreal General Hospital in January. But in the present vacuum of research into the drug's effects, physicians who prescribe it could face disciplinary review and sanctions ranging from fines to temporary license suspension, Dr. Marguerite Dupre of the College of Physicians said. The College's position reflects that of the Canadian Medical Association, which has argued strenuously against the new regulations. Police don't know yet how the government plans to implement the rules, but patients who try to get a head start on their new treatment by obtaining pot from unauthorized distributors will face the same penalties as anyone else, said Commander Andre Durocher of the Montreal Urban Community police. The regulations were crafted following a July 2000 Ontario Court of Appeals judgment which upheld a lower- court decision to stay charges against Terrance Parker, a man who used marijuana to control his epilepsy. The court had ruled the prohibition of marijuana under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to be unconstitutional, but the declaration of invalidity was suspended for a year so that rules allowing the medical use of marijuana could be formulated. Note: Marijuana use for medicinal purposes now legal in Canada.Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)Author: Jane Davenport, The GazettePublished: Tuesday, July 31, 2001Copyright: 2001 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc.Contact: letters thegazette.southam.caWebsite: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Cannabis As Living Medicinehttp://www.mordendesigns.com/calm/Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmCanada Legalises the Compassionate Joint http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10477.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Canadahttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=canada 
END SNIP -->
Snipped
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #9 posted by Patrick on August 01, 2001 at 11:25:32 PT
A Big Smile
As usual, reading all of your comments brings a smile to my face. I to have smelled the rotten breath of jack-booted nazi drug warriors. Fortunately, I only spent one night in JAIL. Why? Because I had the misfortune of smoking pot at a concert. A concert that had nazi drug warriors patrolling the grounds looking for people smoking pot. Mind you this was over 20 years ago. The fear created by that bust stays with me today. It didn't change my mind about pot, it changed my mind about the role of government into ones life!I am so grateful to have this forum for discussion. My arresting experience, while mild compared to many others, is being exposed for it what really is...A violation of my constitutional right to pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I am giddy with excitement contemplating the end of this futile war on drugs and people.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by Lehder on August 01, 2001 at 07:40:25 PT
The Whole World is Watching
It was doomed from the outset because it defies reality. But it will never admit defeat, it will never retire gracefully and it must be pounded and pounded every inch of the way out the door. Like Hitler and his true believers, the drug warriors will hold out in their bunkers destroying everything they can, urging their last weakened followers on to their own destruction befroe they themselves fall too.One big blow that I'm anxious to see is one of the states' governors, maybe Johnson, to tell the federal government to keep its lousy highway money. The feds use the threat of withholding federal money for highway construction and maintenance to jam all kinds of programs down the throats of fifty states. Personally, I would far rather have a few potholes busting cars that a potwar busting lives. Screw federal highway money. A lot of states would follow. Eventually, the warriors will be just as isolated as Hitler in his Berlin bunker in the spring of 1945, and it will be plain to everyone then what a bunch of deranged criminals they really are. War-crimes trials will be sure to follow.If it is necessary to make generalizations, then I would say that I'm cynical about the intensity and stubborness of the drug warriors' resistance to reform. They'll have to be dragged kicking and condemning and persecuting spewing propaganda every inch of the way. But I am more than optimistic, I am absolutely certain of their ultimate defeat. I wish it could be brought about in a day, like the tearing down of the Berlin wall in 89 or the fall of communism two years later. But I think more likely it will be a dragged out hundred round bare knuckle fight.This is the age of the Internet, Drug Warriors. "The whole world is watching." 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by dddd on August 01, 2001 at 05:22:43 PT
Yes,,,Kap...
As usual,,your words are sound and true.....and I do havea nagging tendency to choose the pessimistic flavoring,,,perhapsbecause it is more well suited to my cynical attempts at sardonicjocularity............but the reality of the situation,is that thereis a definate glimmering of hope that seems to glow brighter alotmore.....I would never think of you as "Polyanna",,and your optimism isfar from "mindless",,,,,,,If I ever think you're talking wimpy,unsubstantiated crap,,,,I'll let you know,,,....that's one thing that's so good about commenting here,,there'sa nice balance of opinions,and outlooks,,,,although it is rathersad that our friends Joyce,Mary,and Frances are so shy andeasily spooked,,,,,it's almost as if they are chicken to enterinto any discussions....I feel kinda bad sometimes because wealways shred them whenever they comment,,,but this is trueof most all of those in the Anti club,,they are afraid to seriouslydiscuss these matters,because they are WRONG!JAH Shine On You.......dddd
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by kaptinemo on August 01, 2001 at 04:48:50 PT:
I remain optimistic out of necessity
4D, as I've said here a few times before, I'm not Pollyanna; I'm not being mindlessly, foolishly optimistic in the face of obvious disaster. Having had my own run-in with the Feebs, I know what Beast they serve; through them, I've seen its' fanged mouth and smelled it's rotten breath in my face. And I was lucky; they didn't find anything. But as I said, I've seen the Face of the Enemy. It can smile when it wants to, but prefers to snarl at the very people who pay for it's predations. Like a rabid guard dog that threatens it's owner, the DrugWar should have been 'put down' long ago for the unConstitutional threat it is.But I remain guardedly optimistic because they don't have everything sewn up yetAll around the planet, nations are signalling they've had enough of the American-led DrugWar.It would seem, given all the latest moves by Canada, Great Britain, Switzerland, Portugal, the Netherlands (Ik hou van Holland!) and others, that they are sick and tired of the Big Fat Rich Bully's poorly orchestrated dance and going it alone. Forgive me if I sound like there's a scratch on the CD when I keep pointing out something very significant: nearly all of these moves have taken place after Uncle was calmly but firmly shown the door at the UN Narcotics Control Board. Almost immediately afterwards, we start seeing progress on the international front. Coincidence? Hardly. A very sick balance exists in American foreign policy: when it can't wheedle the international community into giving it what it wants, it rattles sabers in hope of intimidating nations dependent upon it's good will to cough up 'support'.But the rest of the Developed World doesn't need Uncle's largesse - and they have militaries, too. So Uncle, in classic bully fashion, goes overboard in meddling in the affairs of militarily weaker nations.The antis have lost the propaganda war in the Developed Nations; the counterbalance has been lost. Like a playground see-saw, when one rider jumps off quickly, the other is left to crash to the ground. All that's left for the US now is to brazenly, blindly, reflexively, stupidly escalate matters in Colombia to the point the situation becomes so untenable, Joe Sixpack wakes from his beer-induced torpor and asks 'why'? Yes, I do believe we are seeing the end of the DrugWar. But it will not be the decorous, neatly organized, sedate, well-orchestrated and sensible withdrawl from madness that it could be.Nope, it will probably take a series of out-and-out clusterf**ks that will require some more innocent blood spilled before enough people get pissed off enough to do something about it. The Bowers Incident is a perfect example. The Religious Right, which has always been a vocal supporter of the DrugWar, has had several of their own shot down as a result of it's support. People doing God's work have been murdered - by other people who were ostensibly doing God's Work. Embarrassing, eh? Now they're not so keen to chearleaders for the DrugWar, since it wasn't some 'welfare breeder' (yes, I heard that come from the mouth of a local preacher, some years ago. A 'fine, Christian man') who got whacked, but Children of God.Yes, things are changing, slowly, painfully, fitfully, for the better. But like a child afflicted with Down's Syndrome, the lessons you and I learn in a heartbeat takes years for the antis to comprehend.But their sense of smell isn't dependant upon cognitive ability; they smell defeat, and inchoately are struggling to avoid it. But they're too late. The slide down the ideological trash-bin chute has begun. The smarter of the antis are jumping off to our side. It's just a matter of time.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by qqqq on July 31, 2001 at 23:55:48 PT
Ethan
One of my favorite expressions is the other way around.,.."no matter how bad things are,,they could always be worse"qqqq......or...dddd,,,,depending on your point of reference
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on July 31, 2001 at 18:45:53 PT:
Kaptinemo, Wordsmith
Kap, you make me smile. Keep talking, for it does our hearts proud. When is your Canadian tour?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on July 31, 2001 at 18:03:14 PT:
Get out the stopwatch
Let's play "Test the idiots!"The objective is as simple as the minds of those being tested: To see how long it takes a government to realize that it is engaged in monkey-motion. Finger-painting. Twaddle of the most useless and pointless nature.Like balky children shy of a few hundred million neurons, governments around the world, to greater or lesser extents, have tried to put all manner of roadblocks between you and cannabis. The measure of their success is that weed has better quality and is more plentiful than ever.Some success.So, now that they are losing the fight, they are engaging in foot-dragging. This foot-dragging is just more road-blocking and speed bumping, but with a difference; they believe they can wear us down.They are going to be proven wrong...and if they don't quit it, the proof will come at the ballot box. And in the form of much-deserved 'pink slips' informing them that their 'services' are no longer required; clean out your desk on the way out.How long this takes will depend upon how long people are willing to put up with this mean-spirited poor-loser-ism. How long before the affected parties get righteously fed-up with the foot dragging and lower the boom on the pols, and inform them the game is over.These latest circus-animal hoops the Canucks are being forced to jump through - for now - will, as M. St. Maurice has pointed out, be challenged. And in the process of the challenge, the Canadian government will be forced to admit that any supposed reason for the 'safety regulations' regarding access to cannabis are totally without any scientific underpinning. The truth about the origin of Canadian cannabis prohibition was made public in the OCA deliberations last summer; that particularly rabid dog is dead. It's former handlers are now left with only one mangy mutt remaining in the prohib kennel: the present rationale for continuing something so laughably flawed as cannabis prohibition on the pretense of scientific studies which fail to prove the claims made by prohibitionists. Drag that into the cold hard light of scientific inquiry - and peer review - and watch it wither. And with it, the government's, any government's reason for continuing a stupid, vindictive policy. The Canadian antis are teetering on what was formerly a three-legged stool. With the latest victory of common sense over "cave-man ethics" (Ugh! Me not like potheads, me kill!), one leg has been snapped off, and the antis are desperately trying to maintain their balance.Time to finish the job.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on July 31, 2001 at 14:32:09 PT:
One of My Favorite Expressions Is:
No matter how good things are, they can always be better.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by TroutMask on July 31, 2001 at 11:43:16 PT
Time to talk to the Judge
Okay, it's time to go back to court. This half- ssed attempt to placate the Canadian courts should be thrown back in the government's face with a complete lifting of the laws regarding marijuana.-TM
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment