Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Unfair, dysfunctional and unconstitutional.
That's a pretty fair description of the system that is supposed to allow Canadians with chronic or terminal illnesses to use marijuana for pain relief.
At the moment, Lee Petherick is caught in the system. Four years ago he consulted a doctor, filled out all the necessary forms and was certified by Health Canada as a licensed medical marijuana user. He can legally grow up to 15 plants and process the pot as medication for his chronic back pain, the result of an injury.
However Petherick, like all licensed users, has to reapply for a licence every year. And the federal agency that processes the applications never seems to be able to keep up with demand. Petherick's licence expired in May, nearly four months ago, and he's still waiting for a new one.
But while the pain of dealing with a slow, overburdened bureaucracy can be managed, real pain doesn't take four months off. Petherick still needs his medication. He talked to his doctor and to Health Canada and was told that as long as he hung on to his expired licence he would be safe.
They were wrong. City police got a warrant, found eight pot plants growing at the home where Petherick rents a room and charged him with illegally producing and possessing marijuana.
A police spokesman inadvertently highlighted just how ridiculous the Health Canada situation is when he defended the decision to lay charges even though Petherick is producing what amounts to his own supply of a legal, prescription drug.
It's a simple black and white situation, the officer said.
"If their card has been expired, it's just like a driver's licence. It expires, you're no longer allowed to drive."
Imagine what would happen if it took that long to get a driver's licence renewed. Every five years, more than eight million Ontarians would be driving illegally for four months -- or they could just park their vehicles and stay off the roads.
Of course a driver's licence backup would never get to that point. And if it did the police wouldn't be setting up RIDE style traffic stops to charge "illegal" drivers.
But built-in delays for licence renewals caused by underfunding and understaffing of Health Canada's Marijuana Medical Access Division are just the symptom of a bigger injustice -- the existence of any sort of licensing requirement at all.
Marijuana's medical benefits as a relatively mild, non-addictive painkiller are well established. That trait was referred to in a unanimous 2000 Ontario Court of Appeal decision that ruled it was unconstitutional to deny patients access to legal medical marijuana.
The court gave the federal government a year to come up with a remedy. The current licensing system was the result, and it was a bad compromise.
A doctor's prescription should be the only requirement for legal possession of medical marijuana. That's how it works with many other more powerful, potentially more dangerous narcotics.
Marijuana's reputation suffers from its demonization as a party drug. Patients who rely on it shouldn't have to.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: thepeterboroughexaminer.com
Copyright: 2010 Osprey Media Publishing Inc
Contact: Contact Us - Peterborough Examiner - Ontario, CA
Website: Get off the pot and end 'licence' fiasco - Peterborough Examiner - Ontario, CA
That's a pretty fair description of the system that is supposed to allow Canadians with chronic or terminal illnesses to use marijuana for pain relief.
At the moment, Lee Petherick is caught in the system. Four years ago he consulted a doctor, filled out all the necessary forms and was certified by Health Canada as a licensed medical marijuana user. He can legally grow up to 15 plants and process the pot as medication for his chronic back pain, the result of an injury.
However Petherick, like all licensed users, has to reapply for a licence every year. And the federal agency that processes the applications never seems to be able to keep up with demand. Petherick's licence expired in May, nearly four months ago, and he's still waiting for a new one.
But while the pain of dealing with a slow, overburdened bureaucracy can be managed, real pain doesn't take four months off. Petherick still needs his medication. He talked to his doctor and to Health Canada and was told that as long as he hung on to his expired licence he would be safe.
They were wrong. City police got a warrant, found eight pot plants growing at the home where Petherick rents a room and charged him with illegally producing and possessing marijuana.
A police spokesman inadvertently highlighted just how ridiculous the Health Canada situation is when he defended the decision to lay charges even though Petherick is producing what amounts to his own supply of a legal, prescription drug.
It's a simple black and white situation, the officer said.
"If their card has been expired, it's just like a driver's licence. It expires, you're no longer allowed to drive."
Imagine what would happen if it took that long to get a driver's licence renewed. Every five years, more than eight million Ontarians would be driving illegally for four months -- or they could just park their vehicles and stay off the roads.
Of course a driver's licence backup would never get to that point. And if it did the police wouldn't be setting up RIDE style traffic stops to charge "illegal" drivers.
But built-in delays for licence renewals caused by underfunding and understaffing of Health Canada's Marijuana Medical Access Division are just the symptom of a bigger injustice -- the existence of any sort of licensing requirement at all.
Marijuana's medical benefits as a relatively mild, non-addictive painkiller are well established. That trait was referred to in a unanimous 2000 Ontario Court of Appeal decision that ruled it was unconstitutional to deny patients access to legal medical marijuana.
The court gave the federal government a year to come up with a remedy. The current licensing system was the result, and it was a bad compromise.
A doctor's prescription should be the only requirement for legal possession of medical marijuana. That's how it works with many other more powerful, potentially more dangerous narcotics.
Marijuana's reputation suffers from its demonization as a party drug. Patients who rely on it shouldn't have to.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: thepeterboroughexaminer.com
Copyright: 2010 Osprey Media Publishing Inc
Contact: Contact Us - Peterborough Examiner - Ontario, CA
Website: Get off the pot and end 'licence' fiasco - Peterborough Examiner - Ontario, CA
