cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Must Go Through Trials Marijuana Must Go Through Trials Posted by FoM on April 22, 2002 at 18:56:36 PT By Dennis Bueckert, Canadian Press Source: Canadian Press Health Minister Anne McLellan won't release any of the marijuana being grown for the government to distribute to sick and dying patients until it has been tested in clinical trials, her spokeswoman said Monday. The stipulation suggests the marijuana, being grown in an old mine Flin Flon, Man., won't be made available to severely sick or dying patients for years, if ever. It also suggests McLellan is taking a much tougher line on the use of medical marijuana than her predecessor Allan Rock. Clinical trials usually involve giving one group of people a drug and another group a placebo and observing differences. Such studies can take years to design and conduct. And it's far from certain that clinical trials will in the end prove any therapeutic benefit, which raises the possibility that the Flin Flon crop will never be made available to sick people who claim it helps them. When Rock announced the Manitoba pot-growing contract last July, he said some would be used for research and some could be given to patients who qualified because they were severely ill or dying. "It will . . . be made available to authorized Canadians using it for medical purposes who agree to provide information to Health Canada for monitoring and research purposes," a news release at the time said. The assumption implicit in McLellan's position is that the effectiveness of medical marijuana must be proven by the most rigorous scientific standards before patients who are dying can use it. Farah Mohamed, McLellan's spokeswoman, insisted in an interview Monday that the department is merely following steps set out at the beginning, and time is not the main consideration. "All of this goes to wanting to mitigate the risks associated with medical marijuana, if there are some, and ensuring there is therapeutic value," she said. "Despite how much time it might take, if the goal is to ensure what you're doing is in the best interests of people who need marijuana for medicinal purposes . . . then the time is well invested." It's not known how long clinical trials will take, and Mohamed didn't say when they will begin. Rock had invited doctors to sign certificates that their patients needed marijuana despite a lack of scientific evidence on its therapeutic effectiveness, which brought protests from some medical groups. But some doctors have signed the documents and as of April 2, Health Canada had issued 205 authorizations for possession of marijuana. Those authorized patients now have no choice but to grow their own, or get someone to grow it for them, with no legal source of seeds. Those who supported Rock's approach said lung cancer, the best-known harm from smoking marijuana, wouldn't be a consideration for dying patients. Source: Canadian Press (Canada Wire)Author: Dennis Bueckert, Canadian PressPublished: Monday, April 22, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Canadian Press (CP)Related Articles:Medicinal-Marijuana Harvest on Holdhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12605.shtmlMedicinal-Pot Users Fuming Over Delayshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11623.shtmlFirst Batch of Government-Issue Marijuana Readyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11620.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #20 posted by qqqq on April 23, 2002 at 15:39:39 PT placebo buds .." Clinical trials usually involve giving one group of people a drug and another group a placebo and observing differences. Such studies can take years to design and conduct. ".. ...yea,,sure......you know what will take the longest time in the "clical trials".?,,,well,I think it will take at least 5 years for them to develop a placebo,that tastes like real Marijuana.......I can imagine them trying to fake someone out with some parsley,sage,dandelion blend.....Imagine the idiot in the trial,,, that would mistake the placebo for real weed!!,, ,,,sayin';"..yea,,I really felt different......I started seein' spots..and then pink gremlins began to torture my mind,,and they made me live with dolphins."..... ,and then they would find that the "placebo" blend was comparable to smokable Paxil......... .. ...The sad truth,,is that this is not very funny at all.....what sort of "trials",can they do?,,Are we to assume that they will round up a group of really sick people and make sure that they are not just faking,when they claim Marijuana makes them feel better?,,or,,perhaps they will gather together a group of normal people..half of them will get to smoke prime Marijuana,,the other half will get fake,"placebo" pot...Then,,they will hook everyone up to a Painamometer,and stick red hot pokers in their asses,,and cut off fingers and limbs with Skilsaws,,,,,.and then they will find that the ones who had placebo-weed, were actually less sensitive to pain than the people who smoked real Marijuana!!!,,,.. ,,so,,then, ,people who had Marijuana prescribed would be given the placebo, because it had now been proven to work better for stopping pain.,,and they would claim that the syudy,and trials have in fact,proved,, that Marijuana make a person more sensitive to pain!.....Of course,,all this wiil take place after the Sheeple Rebellion of 2026,,,,and the Water Wars of 2031... Most of us will be old,,or dead,due to the side effects of that placebo that was legalized. [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by Jose Melendez on April 23, 2002 at 11:53:00 PT: link link to article below:CN AB: Column: Ottawa's Not A Very Good Drug Dealerhttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n784/a09.html?397 [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by Jose Melendez on April 23, 2002 at 11:51:41 PT: long but relevant From: OTTAWA'S NOT A VERY GOOD DRUG DEALER The federal government is obviously profoundly uncomfortable at the idea of dabbling in the drug-dealing business. Last year, with much fanfare, Ottawa unveiled what it described as a "compassionate framework" to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The new regulations were designed to replace exemption provisions that required people to get special permission from the health minister to use pot for therapeutic reasons. It was supposed to be easier for those suffering from debilitating illnesses to access medical marijuana. Things haven't turned out that way. As part of the application process, patients are supposed to obtain declarations from medical specialists that include, among other details, a recommended dosage. Physicians, as you can imagine, aren't interested in prescribing a drug without clear, scientific evidence on the risks and benefits. As a result, doctors have been largely reluctant to co-operate and Ottawa has had to grant extensions under the old rules to many patients who were previously allowed to smoke pot. Two months ago, I wrote about an Edmonton couple suffering from hepatitis C whose exemption from prosecution under the old law was scheduled to expire at the end of this week. Try as they might, Dale and Alice Strohmaier couldn't find specialists who would help them apply for permission to use pot under the new regulations. The day my column ran, a Health Canada official phoned them and gave assurances that the problem would be resolved. Sure enough, the couple were granted a six-month extension. Numerous other sick Canadians have been quietly granted similar renewals because they, too, haven't been able to convince doctors to fill in their applications. But they're sorely mistaken if they think they'll have access to Ottawa's own research-grade weed any time soon. Sure, the plants have been harvested in the government's high-security underground pot bunker in Flin Flon, but the stuff is just sitting there smelling up the place. When Health Canada announced in December 2000 that Prairie Plant Systems Inc. had won a $5.7-million contract to grow standardized pot for medical and research needs, it declared that the government-authorized marijuana would be available in a year. More than a year later, priorities have changed. There is no "time frame" as to when the Flin Flon pot will be distributed, Farah Mohamed, spokesman for Health Minister Anne McLellan, told me yesterday. And that's not all. Our official weed won't be released to the ailing Canadians who qualify until clinical trials on medicinal pot have been completed, she said. "We're not in the business of taking risks," she added, saying the government has no intention of distributing an untested product. In that case, Ottawa should have clearly stated right from the beginning that it would likely be years before people not involved in clinical trials would have access to government pot. The clinical trials, by the way, haven't begun yet. In the meantime, there's all that pot stored in Flin Flon, which, unless it's really wicked, is bound to lose its potency as the months go by. York University law professor Alan Young predicts Ottawa will end up incinerating this batch on the grounds that it no longer has any medicinal value. While the government is committed to clinical trials, it's not particularly interested in being a drug dealer for ill Canadians, says Young, who has represented ailing Canadians in their fight to use pot. "I don't think they can backpedal on this. They can stall, they can delay, but I don't think they can subvert it. We have to move forward eventually." Young plans to push the process along. He's about to go to court to try to have Ottawa's medicinal pot regulations quashed. If he wins, pot possession will no longer be a crime. That should give Ottawa a buzz. Posted by: Narcosoft.com - technology with substance [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by Jose Melendez on April 23, 2002 at 11:43:19 PT: link medical marijuana advocates operate a Web-based network of support: http://www.themarijuanamission.com [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by Jose Melendez on April 23, 2002 at 11:41:14 PT: Is my medicine legal yet? From:http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n785/a06.html?397 MS SUFFERER ACCUSES OTTAWA OF DRAGGING ITS HEELS 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 www.themarijuanamission.com">http://www.themarijuanamission.com">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." Narcosoft.com - Arrest Prohibition [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by FoM on April 23, 2002 at 11:28:13 PT What Are They Going To Do With The Cannabis? What are they going to do with all that expensive Cannabis that they grew? Just throw it away? That is really wrong if they do. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by Sam Adams on April 23, 2002 at 07:44:10 PT What a surprise The government did what it does best....it blew millions of taxpayer dollars on a total white elephant. A bunch of Rock's people got their kickback money from the mine company, the mine company got their cash, job complete.Shame on any doctor who comes out and advocates keeping MJ away from terminally ill people - how disgraceful. Almost like medieval bleedings. Doctors are like priests - many of them are saints, but you better watch out, because while yours is pretending to help with one hand, the other is pulling your pants down to f*** you in the a**. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Jose Melendez on April 23, 2002 at 07:04:55 PT: the rest of the story (...continued) The Hawaiian law, on the other hand, requires the doctor to first diagnosethe patient as having a "debilitating medical condition." This is definedas firstly as, "cancer, glaucoma, positive status for humanimmunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or thetreatment of these conditions." Secondly as "a chronic or debilitatingdisease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more ofCachexia or wasting syndrome, severe pain, severe nausea, seizures,including those characteristic of epilepsy; or severe and persistent musclespasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis or Crohnsdisease." Thirdly as "any other medical condition approved by thedepartment of health pursuant to administrative rules in response to arequest from a physician or qualifying patient." This model takes controlof the medical decision out of the hands of the doctors and places it withgovernment bureaucrats where it does not belong.I'm betting that our minister of health, who will not be spared from U.S.federal government pressure on this issue, will try for the morerestrictive type of regulations ensuring that control will remain with thegovernment and not be left to the doctors and their patients. Whatever thegovernment comes up with it will have to comply with "the principles offundamental justice" referred to in Section 7 of the Canadian Charter ofRights and Freedoms. It will not meet those principles if it takes away anindividual's right to make decisions of fundamental personal importancewhich at least includes the right to make decisions as to what medicationto take to alleviate the effects of an illness with life threateningconsequences. As the court stated in Parker, regulations requiring doctorapproval and setting out safeguards to prevent the marijuana from gettinginto the illicit market may well pass Charter muster. However, the trickyarea defining the qualifying illnesses and the residual power regardingspecific illness that are not defined, will prove the most interesting. Atleast we know that an unfettered discretion in the minister or one of hissubordinates will not do.And all of this over a plant, known for centuries to have medicinal valueand described by medical experts as a mild sedative with dependency aspectsequivalent to coffee or tea. A non-toxic substance they describe as one ofthe safest therapeutically active substances known to man in its naturalform. The lethal dose ratio (LD-50) for cannabis is estimated to be about1:20,000 to 1:40,000 which means you have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 timesas much marijuana as is contained in one marijuana cigarette to inducedeath. This means you would have to consume something like 1,500 pounds in15 minutes to induce a lethal response. There are no known fatalities fromthe substance and it is considered non-toxic.By contrast, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, which include Aspirin,apparently result in up to 100,000 hospitalizations and 10,000 deaths peryear in the United States. The deaths attributed to Aspirin alone, are1,000 to 2,000 each year.In other words, if one applies the same criteria to marijuana as tomanufactured drugs, marijuana would fall into the category of medicationsavailable without prescription over the counter. In comparison, Echinacea,which is and continues to be widely available without prescription, is justbeginning to go though clinical trials to determine if it has anytherapeutic value at all. Meanwhile it is known to not be good for thosewith immune problems like those suffering from AIDS. So what about all theChinese herbal medicines or those used for centuries by various otherindigenous communities?Maybe its "high" time we conduct some clinical trials on our politicians!John W. Conroy QC is an Abbotsford lawyer who is involved in a number of marijuana test cases. Narcosoft.com [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by Jose Melendez on April 23, 2002 at 07:04:27 PT: the rest of the story The police and governments at all levels have turned a deliberate blind eyeto the public service these clubs provide, from a prosecution stand point and in fact have clearly condoned them. Nevertheless the minister of healthhas made a point of studiously ignoring them and their expertise, not to mention their invaluable research data base, in the process leading up tothe change in the law. The law - medical marijuana cases in the courtsThe most important cases on the medical issue have occurred in Ontario.Terry Parker has suffered from a severe form of epilepsy since he was achild. He has experienced serious life threatening seizures that have notbeen controlled by conventional medications and surgery. He found thatsmoking marijuana substantially reduced the incidence of seizures and infact would stop one that he felt coming on. His physicians have supportedhim in this use of cannabis since 1987. They determined that he could nottake any higher doses of conventional medication because of the serious side effects. He was subsequently charged with possession of cannabis andacquitted by the courts on the basis that his use was medically necessary.A Crown appeal was dismissed. He started to grow his own to avoid the blackmarket. In 1996 the police raided his home and seized 71 plants and chargedhim with cultivation (maximum seven years in jail) and possession for thepurpose of trafficking (maximum life imprisonment). In 1997 they raided himagain and found three more plants and charged him with simple possession.He decided to challenge the constitutionality of the law that forced him tochoose between his liberty and his health. Judge Sheppard of the OntarioCourt of Justice, which is like our provincial court, agreed with him andstayed the charges. He also gave him and others like him a constitutionalexemption for "personal medically approved use." The Crown appealed to theOntario Court of Appeal.Last July 31st, the Ontario Court of Appeal decided the Parker appeal. It dismissed the Crown appeal and held that the law was indeedunconstitutional in so far as it precluded access to marijuana for medicalpurposes. The court declared the law prohibiting the possession ofmarijuana to be of no force and effect.However, as mentioned above, it suspended the declaration of invalidity forone year to enable Parliament (or more accurately the executive government)an opportunity to make amendments to try and bring the law into compliancewith the Charter. The federal government could have asked the Supreme Court of Canada for permission to appeal this decision. It has chosen not to doso. Consequently, the government is working on these new medical marijuana regulations that must be in place by July 31st of this year.Madam Justice Acton of the Alberta Queens Bench followed the Parkerdecision this past December in ruling in Kreiger that the law prohibitingthe cultivation of marijuana was unconstitutional because it did notrecognize circumstances involving medical necessity. That Court also gave the federal government twelve months to rewrite the law to provide for suchcultivation for legitimate medical use.The new medical marijuana regulatory frameworkHealth Minister Alan Rock has said that this new regulatory frameworkwill address such issues as the definition of medical necessity, thefactors to be considered in granting or denying an authorization to usemarijuana for medical purposes and a transparent exemption process. In Parker the court appended to its reasons a copy of the CaliforniaCompassionate Use Act of 1996 as well as the most recent legislation fromHawaii. The Californian law, while declaring that its purpose is to ensurethat "seriously ill" Californians have access to marijuana whererecommended by their doctor for cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis and migraine, goes on to include "or anyother illness for which marijuana provides relief." This would appear toleave the medical decision in the hands of the doctor where it belongs. Inaddition the Act is intended to not only protect patients and doctors butalso other primary caregivers to the patient.(continued) Narcosoft.com [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by Jose Melendez on April 23, 2002 at 06:58:16 PT: wolfgang I am stll looking for info on that Canadian ruling on the constitutionality question.I did find this, from:http://www.bcmarijuanaparty.ca/CLUBS/artlcle_1.htmMarijuana as Medicine and the law circa 2001 By JOHN W. CONROY John W. Conroy QC is an Abbotsford lawyer who is involved in a number of marijuana test cases. Introduction and some early history On July 31st last year, the Ontario Court of Appeal, in a case involving Terry Parker, ruled that our marijuana laws are unconstitutional to the extent that they did not provide for access by medical patients requiring cannabis for their health or at least if there health is threatened in a serious way. The court also ruled that the existing exemption process was unconstitutional because it gave the minister of health an absolute discretion to grant or withhold such an exemption from the law without any criteria for so doing. The court gave the federal government until July 31st of this year to remedy the situation. Ottawa did not appeal this decision and is currently developing a new regulatory approach for the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Marijuana (cannabis sativa) has been demonstrated to be safe and effective in the treatment of numerous medical conditions. Muscle spasms and tremor, pain, migraine headache, nausea and vomiting, and loss of appetite are all conditions for which marijuana has been shown to be effective, in maladies ranging from multiple sclerosis to AIDS wasting syndrome to epilepsy and chemotherapy treatments for cancer. Marijuana also reduces intra-ocular pressure, and is effective in slowing the progression of glaucoma. The possession and use of marijuana became illegal in Canada in 1923 when the federal cabinet added it to the schedule under the Opium and Drug Act of 1911. This was largely as a result of the climate of "irrational fear" whipped up by the writings of crusading Edmonton magistrate Emily Murphy. Her writings were primarily based on misinformation from U.S. chiefs of police and were written under the name of Janey Canuck and serialized in MacLeans magazine. She also wrote a racist and sensationalist book called The Black Candle. Judge Murphy, to her credit, was also one of the famous five that brought women the vote in Canada, but to her further discredit, was also a proponent of eugenics. Throughout this time the legislation, which became known as the Narcotic Control Act, unlike the U.S. laws, allowed "physicians" to "administer, prescribe, give sell, or furnish a narcotic" to a patient for a condition for which the person was receiving professional treatment. This provision in Section 53 of the Narcotic Control Regulations has survived and continues to be the law today under the new Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. All drugs covered by the Act are now called "controlled drugs" instead of "narcotics." However, because there is no legal source of supply, the federal government, which controls the ability to licence growers and dealers of controlled drugs, frowns on doctors who do so, as does the British Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. Fortunately there are a few doctors who are prepared to do what the law authorizes them to do. In a British Columbia Medical Association newsletter it was suggested that a "letter of authorization" of sorts be used, instead of actually prescribing. Regretfully, most doctors are too timid when it comes to standing up to their government, unless it involves their pay cheque. Besides, marijuana is not in that blue book supplied by the pharmaceutical industry that gives them all those free samples of real hard drugs with real bad side effects. What do they need marijuana for when they have all those heavier drugs? Similarly a provision was also carried forward into the new Act that allowed the minister of health to exempt certain persons from the law for a "medical or scientific purpose" or a purpose that is "otherwise in the public interest." While not originally intended for this purpose, this provision in Section 56 of the Act has become the section under which the minister of health has now exempted 140 people over the last 18 months. Typically an exemptee is authorized to grow several plants for his or her own use. They are not authorized to obtain it elsewhere. Many are too ill or lack experience in growing and are therefore forced to go to the black market and risk obtaining marijuana contaminated with metals and molds, not to mention pesticides liberally applied by those only interested in cranking out their next crop for a profit and not for health care. Last year, the federal government put out a request for proposals to grow cannabis for certain planned clinical trials and to possibly supply "the exemptees." Recently it announced that it had picked Prairie Plant Systems of Saskatoon to fulfill this five-year contract by growing it in a heavily-secured bunker in Manitoba. Of course the heavy security is necessary because there are all those people out there "dying" to get their hands on this government grade mild sedative as if they couldn't get enough of the good stuff from the black market or better yet a "Compassion Club." What about the Compassion Clubs that have sprung up around the country to fill the void while awaiting the governments U.S.-induced snails pace of compassion? No marijuana will be legally available through the first government-licenced grower/dealer for another year. These clubs, modeled on their counterparts in the U.S., and particularly those in California, have a number of illicit growers on contract to grow medical grade marijuana only for the club, which is subject to verification and testing for contaminants. The club obtains the marijuana from the growers, often through middlemen who perform quality and quantity controls, and supplies it to club members who must have either a prescription or letter from their doctors, with rare exceptions. It is usually supplied at less than market cost even though it is grown primarily organically and is therefore more expensive to produce. The B.C. Compassion Club Society in Vancouver is a registered non-profit society with approximately 1,400 member patients at this time. The Vancouver Island Compassion Club has approximately 130 members. Many other clubs exist throughout the province and elsewhere. These clubs operate like hospices providing a wide range of holistic therapeutic services to members for their conditions besides providing a source of supply to fill prescriptions and letters for those that need it now and can't wait for the government's slow and controlled "compassion."(snip) Arrest Prohibition [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by Lehder on April 23, 2002 at 05:52:07 PT good point, Wolfgang As I recall, the Supreme Court's ruling required that if a means for the delivery of medical marijuana could not be imlemented within one year, then, as you say, all marijuana prohibitions would be struck down. The politically contrived delay in medical delivery would seem to reactivate the Supreme Court's ruling. I hope that it will at least lead to a well publicized showdown.Such a confrontation between branches of the Canadian government is at least still possible in principle; the US government is wholly comprised of a single executive branch. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by masscrusader on April 23, 2002 at 05:16:59 PT John Turmel Look up what happened on April 17th in Toronto with Terry Parker. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by WolfgangWylde on April 23, 2002 at 04:31:56 PT Same question, different thread... I posted this on another thread, but what's up with the Canadian Supreme Court? Clearly, the gov't has no intention of abiding by the Court's order from last year. Any chance they'll re-instate their original order which struck down ALL of Canada's marijuana laws? [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by p4me on April 22, 2002 at 22:26:49 PT Watch out Anne "All of this goes to wanting to mitigate the risks associated with medical marijuana, if there are some, and ensuring there is therapeutic value," she said.Well there Anne if your are concerned about the safety of others I should be so kind as to affer this safety tip for people in your line of work: If you request testimonial letters, do not put them on the mountains of evidence for MMJ that already exist. It may take them a week to dig you out.VAAI [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by MikeEEEEE on April 22, 2002 at 22:25:53 PT More stalling from boneheads. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by SoberStoner on April 22, 2002 at 22:20:09 PT: bah.. Anyone care to guess how much the U$A is paying her to forget about all the various studies that have already proven the effectiveness of Cannabis for various medical conditions?Is this woman even a doctor?SS [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Dark Star on April 22, 2002 at 20:29:38 PT Inexplicable There is no real reason for this decision except caving in to Amerikan pressure. These people are sick, and they are certified by their doctors, in spite of what some ignoramus ideologue might think. What constitutes proof to some people? Does it mean a point when there is no opposition whatsoever to the premise that marijuana is medicine?This type of short-sighted policy edict may well hasten a court decision that wipes out Canada's existing marijuana prohibition. Wouldn't that be nice? [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on April 22, 2002 at 19:44:43 PT People have forgotten AIDS apparently The Western world has a very short memory. Bin Laden is our new epidemic.But that continued forgetting of the AIDS epidemic is only possible as long as the current drugs keep working, which won't be forever, because the HIV virus is damned clever. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on April 22, 2002 at 19:40:57 PT They're not worried about drug resistant HIV? Because of the LACRC shutodwn, HIV medication compliance is falering in LA.This only helps HIV become more drug resistant.Are these people not aware of that?Once the currently effective HIV drugs become useless, does Anne Mclellan have a solution in mind then for the world? [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Reverend Nick on April 22, 2002 at 19:15:35 PT: Unless they Die First "Despite how much time it might take, if the goal is to ensure what you're doing is in the best interests of people who need marijuana for medicinal purposes . . . then the time is well invested."...unless they die first.And this lady is the HEALTH MINISTER? 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