cannabisnews.com: Handcuffed by Pot Law Handcuffed by Pot Law Posted by FoM on October 23, 2001 at 07:54:38 PT By Thane Burnett Source: Toronto Sun The dying and the wounded have picked an unusual champion in Diane Bruce. She is weak and sickly and looks like she could break in half if you were to exhale a breath quickly her way. Bruce, suffering from multiple sclerosis, is also in jail, charged after OPP drug enforcement officers raided her home, east of here, near Colborne, and seized about 18 kilograms of marijuana with a street value totaling more than $80,000. But the drugs weren't destined for the street. In fact, in a strange way, Bruce was planning to give it all away to the needy. The 37-year-old mother of two, for some time now, has been acting as a grower for more than 50 sick people with federal permits to use marijuana for medical reasons. She hasn't done it in the shadows, and even invited local police in to see her elaborate 'Lady Dyz Helping Hands' operation, which included indoor facilities and an outdoor, 10-metre-square garden protected by a wire fence, security cameras, floodlights and dogs. She and her supporters have even kept a 24-hour-a-day lookout on the crops -- an hour for each of the exotic varieties of cannabis grown there. The Patients Feel Better "I'm good at growing marijuana," she told me, in an anti-room, next to a tiny Cobourg courtroom, yesterday afternoon. "And I give (it) away. These are sick and dying people. I can't turn my back on them." In fact, she leases out space to federal exemptees, who have been granted status by Health Canada to use pot for medical purposes. They include those suffering from HIV/AIDS and cancer victims. While Canadian Medical Association officials question the value of marijuana in treatment, those patients who use it say they know -- and feel -- better. "But I can't grow it in my small apartment," explained Burlington artist Robin Hoyer, who fights a daily battle with AIDS and hepatitis C. "With it, my health has improved. I can sleep well. I've gained weight." An exemptee since April -- he's used Bruce's services recently -- Hoyer takes in very small amounts of pot as part of his treatment at night. Before going to Bruce, he used an underground network of phone numbers and coded knocks on the doors of strangers. Bruce's operation is safer, he said. In truth, not always. Bruce's garden has been raided by thieves more than once. Last week, she managed to scare off what she believes was a home invasion, by using a flare gun fired out a window. The thugs in a van -- one seen with a shotgun -- fled. That was just days before police came in, took everything and charged Bruce, along with her 18-year-old daughter, Michelle Hughey, with various drug charges. The raid couldn't have come at a worse time. It was the end of the season, and the exemptees were just starting to arrive to pick up their allotted medication. Bruce -- who has applied, but is not an exemptee -- doesn't know what they will do now, though some patients are banding together and plan to ask a higher court to have the pot, seized from Bruce, handed over to them. The OPP say they understand the drugs were headed to the sick, but that doesn't change the law regarding Bruce's part in supplying it. "We're not out there beating (exemptees) up, but this is black and white -- she had no authorization to do what she was doing," said OPP Const. Rick Barnum. "There's no licence for that." Rules Hard To FollowBut there is a way to do it. Health Canada spokesman Andrew Swift said yesterday that amendments made on July 30 changed the rules, allowing exemptees to have someone like Bruce grow their plants for them. The total number of licences handed out so far? None. And a below-ground commercial pot farm in Manitoba isn't expected to produce drugs for exemptees until 2003. Until then, they count on special fellowship centres or the black market or people like Bruce, who said yesterday she's just trying to do the right thing. But the rules regarding exemptees, and where they get their marijuana, are enough to make your head spin. Many patients still feel like criminals -- largely by the way Ottawa has forced them to buy their marijuana. Some have just months to live. And Bruce doesn't know how much more she can take. She cried yesterday when her Toronto lawyer, David McCaskill, told her that her bail hearing was put over. The dying and the wounded have picked an unusual champion in Diane Bruce. But, for more than 50 of them, she was the only one to turn to. Note: Growing cannabis for sick brings OPP raid.Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)Author: Thane BurnettPublished: Tuesday, October 23, 2001Copyright: 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership.Contact: editor sunpub.comWebsite: http://www.fyitoronto.com/torsun.shtmlRelated Articles & Web Site:FTE's Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmSuffering Few Who Legally Possess Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11135.shtmlCanada Goes to Pot - We Should Follow http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10487.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Canadahttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=canada Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #11 posted by Cannabis Dave on October 23, 2001 at 13:20:35 PT BLOODY HYPOCRITES!!! In "Western" culture we have an enormous health problems caused by addictions to nicotine and alcohol. We also push drugs with harmful side-effects (ritalin, prosac, etc.) on our children for all sorts of behaviors that used to be considered a natural part of growing-up. How hypocritical for them to make a relatively harmless and healing herb illegal, while they continue to push drugs on our children and subsidize alcohol and tobacco industries. The powers that be in our countries, the "authorities" as it were, are hypcrites and liars. We need to have a social revolution and get rid of the pig-headed people in power. The internet is helping to enlighten people to the TRUTH, so the days are numbered for those evil people in power. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by puff_tuff on October 23, 2001 at 11:11:28 PT Links From the Guardianhttp://politics.guardian.co.uk/whitehall/story/0,9061,579581,00.htmlThe Indepedenthttp://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=101056 [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by p4me on October 23, 2001 at 10:54:36 PT: Source for Canadian news release Somebody below asked about the source for the Canadian news story. Here you go. What a great day.http://www.canadianalliance.ca/hotissues/current/pressreleases/index.cfm [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by null on October 23, 2001 at 10:38:00 PT turning tides Great news from the U.K.! Really encouraging news from Canada. The tide is turning my friends. The U.S. politicos will eventually get dragged along by the tide of world opinion. We've had the facts and the studies for years that marijuana is amazingly benign and that alcohol and cigarettes are incomparably more addictive, deadly, and unhealthy. However, facts never seem to sway politicians. Only opinion because opinion means votes.Now with the opinion of two close allies swinging to decriminalize marijuana, the U.S. might just get pulled along in a year or two.PuffTuff: What was the source of that release? an encouraging day, null [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Sam Adams on October 23, 2001 at 10:24:16 PT Ah, the Placer County of Canada! Looks like Canada has some thugs as well, eh? How nice of the pig not to beat up the cripples! Let's give him some more tax money for being such a great guy! [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on October 23, 2001 at 10:22:27 PT Audio from the BBC! LIVE NOW Blunkett on relaxation of UK cannabis laws http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsa/n5ctrl/live/now3.ram [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 23, 2001 at 10:18:39 PT p4me & puff_tuff - Please keep us posted! Both your comments sounds like good news. I can't seem to find any more articles so far today but I'll keep looking. I tried to find an article in the Independent but with no luck yet. Thanks for keeping all of us informed. America is such a backward country but it acts like it is the Ultimate! [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on October 23, 2001 at 10:15:04 PT: "Ve ahr unly vollowing orduhssss!" Jawohl, dat ist dee trut'! Ve ahr nut beeting ahp on zee zeeck peep'l, no, ve don' do zat! No, ve uhnlee prozekooting zee law!They have eyes. They have ears. They presumably were born with a brain. They can speak, read and write English. They received roughly the same 20th Century history lessons we have. But they refuse to see the parallels. The incredibly obvious parallels. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by p4me on October 23, 2001 at 10:14:32 PT: good news from UK on MJ I just saw that the BBC had an article up about Uk reclassifying MJ from class B to class c drug. Read this for a little smile. http://news.bbc.co.uk/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by puff_tuff on October 23, 2001 at 10:03:58 PT Canada too Commons to Vote on Decriminalizing MarijuanaFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 22 October 2001Ottawa: Dr. Keith Martin, Member of Parliament for Esquimalt - Juan de Fuca, praised the Government’s decision to allow his Private Members’ Bill C-344, An Act to Amend the Contraventions Act and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marijuana), to become votable.The Bill provides for the decriminalization of marijuana by introducing a system of fines for simple possession. Dr. Martin said, “It is important that the House of Commons debate the issue of decriminalizing marijuana. For far too long, we have wasted the valuable time and resources of law enforcement agencies and the courts on a failed policy of minor drug enforcement. My Bill will save these agencies $150 million every year, and allow us to focus resources on apprehending the drug traffickers, growers and organized crime gangs, while fining those who only possess a small amount of marijuana”. Bill C-344 will come up for debate on November 7th 2001. At that time, Dr. Martin will call for all parties to support the decriminalization of simple marijuana possession. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by p4me on October 23, 2001 at 09:55:04 PT: Good news to announce must read You can go to http://www.dutchexperience now and read my source. This evening the word will be everywhere.Home Secretary David Plunkett announced new proposals to ease laws on the possession of cannabis. He suggested cannabis should be reclassified from a class "B"drug to a class "C"drug, meaning posession would no longer be an arrestable offense. He told the House Select Committee that a ban on the medical use of cannabis could be lifted. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment