Calgary Medical Marijuana Activist to Harper: "Repeal Prohibition"

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Medical marijuana activist Douglas Cluff has a message for Prime Minister Stephen Harper: “repeal prohibition.” Cluff, an MS sufferer and the founder of Calgary Medicinal Marijuana Counselling (CMMC), believes that only when marijuana is legal will medical users have reliable access to marijuana and research into its “far-reaching medical benefits.”

While medical marijuana is legal in Canada -- the government even grows and certifies its own supply – Cluff told the Libertarian Party candidate for Calgary Centre-North, Jason McNeil, and party leader Dennis Young in a meeting Thursday that access is still the primary concern for CMMC members.

First, medical marijuana is only available to people who suffer from diseases from which marijuana is known to Health Canada to provide relief. If you’ve got MS or rheumatoid arthritis, you can get access to medical marijuana. If you’ve got fibre myalgia, for instance, you’re out luck. Cluff thinks this practice of excluding certain diseases from the list found in the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations is discriminatory and would like to see Health Canada expand the number of eligible diseases that can be legally treated with marijuana.

Second, Cluff says doctors are reluctant to sign medical exemption forms for patients because they have been instructed by the Canadian Medical Association not to authorize the use of medical marijuana if they are unfamiliar with the benefits.

Third, Cluff says the regulations established through Marihuana Medical Access Regulations are too strict, including the obligation that patients renew their exemptions every year, even in those cases where an exemptee is suffering from an incurable disease. Also, medical marijuana users must be less than 100 kilometres from a licensed supplier, often making it difficult for users and growers to connect.

Until April of this year, Cluff admits to actively distributing marijuana to members of CMMC (even to those without medical exemptions) as a form of civil disobedience, but “retired” from the practice due to the “paranoia” he had with getting caught. (His wife didn’t like it either.) He has now shifted his focus from distribution to education and activism.


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Source: Western Standard
Copyright: 2008 Western Standard
Contact: Western Standard
Website: Western Standard