T
The420Guy
Guest
Pubdate: Wed, 28 Jun 2000
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: The Vancouver Sun 2000
Contact: sunletters@pacpress.southam.ca
Address: 200 Granville Street, Ste.#1, Vancouver BC V6C 3N3
Fax: (604) 605-2323
Website: Vancouver Sun
Author: Chris Nuttall-Smith
MEDICAL POT USER SAYS CHILDREN SEIZED
An outspoken B.C. medical marijuana
advocate says social workers have removed his four children because Health Canada granted
him a personal exemption that allows him to legally smoke the drug.
Brian Carlisle said Tuesday his six-year-old daughter, as well as his common-law wife's three
young children, were removed on April 9 after someone alleged the children were given
drugs.
Carlisle, an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church of Modesta, California, says
parents who use marijuana for medical or recreational purposes are at risk of losing their
children.
According to Carlisle, ministry of children and families workers took urine samples from the
children, which all turned out negative. But Carlisle and his wife, Rochelle Lofton, have not
been allowed to see the children without supervision from social workers, and they don't
know when they will get them back.
"I'm a wreck," Carlisle said in an interview from his home in Hope. "Sometimes it's hard to
function. I've never been hit so low as I have now."
Carlisle, 30, added that he and Lofton would gladly submit the children to daily drug tests if it
would mean the children could be returned. He said the children have never been given drugs
or exposed to drugs.
A ministry official said Tuesday social workers can remove children from their parents if they
are suspected of giving them drugs, exposing them to drugs, or involving them in selling or
cultivating drugs.
The ministry can also remove children if drugs render their parents incapable of responsible
parenting, the official said.
The official would not comment specifically on Carlisle's case.
In its guidelines for how patients can apply for an exemption to use marijuana, Health Canada
specifies the health minister will consider the seriousness of the medical condition, how the
use of the drug will help the patient, whether the patient has tried other therapies and whether
the patient's doctor recommends use of the drug.
The patient must provide the federal ministry with a name, address, birth date, gender and
medical diagnosis.
The guidelines do not say whether Health Canada considers whether the patient has children,
but they say the health minister can request other information from the patient.
But Carlisle said provincial authorities have ignored his federal exemption, and he charged that
other federal exemptees have also had problems with social workers.
Carlisle's adoptive father, reached at his home in Hope, said Tuesday he does not speak to his
son.
George Carlisle said his son's daughter Katherine has lived with him on and off for the past
three years, in part because Brian is not a good parent.
"They're on and off, you know," George Carlisle said of his son and Lofton.
When asked to explain, he said: "They're not reliable. He hasn't been here for a long time as
far as I'm concerned."
Brian Carlisle said that he and his father have differences of opinion, but he rejected George's
comments about his parenting.
"I've been there for Katherine since the day she was born."
Carlisle has taken a high-profile role in the fight to legalize marijuana for medical purposes.
He became an exemptee this year to treat his glaucoma and chronic pain.
Carlisle also made headlines last February when he drove to Ontario to attend a Health
Canada conference of medical marijuana. Carlisle said at the conference that he wants Health
Canada to set up a ministry of marijuana and that the government should make him minister.
MAP posted-by: Derek
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: The Vancouver Sun 2000
Contact: sunletters@pacpress.southam.ca
Address: 200 Granville Street, Ste.#1, Vancouver BC V6C 3N3
Fax: (604) 605-2323
Website: Vancouver Sun
Author: Chris Nuttall-Smith
MEDICAL POT USER SAYS CHILDREN SEIZED
An outspoken B.C. medical marijuana
advocate says social workers have removed his four children because Health Canada granted
him a personal exemption that allows him to legally smoke the drug.
Brian Carlisle said Tuesday his six-year-old daughter, as well as his common-law wife's three
young children, were removed on April 9 after someone alleged the children were given
drugs.
Carlisle, an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church of Modesta, California, says
parents who use marijuana for medical or recreational purposes are at risk of losing their
children.
According to Carlisle, ministry of children and families workers took urine samples from the
children, which all turned out negative. But Carlisle and his wife, Rochelle Lofton, have not
been allowed to see the children without supervision from social workers, and they don't
know when they will get them back.
"I'm a wreck," Carlisle said in an interview from his home in Hope. "Sometimes it's hard to
function. I've never been hit so low as I have now."
Carlisle, 30, added that he and Lofton would gladly submit the children to daily drug tests if it
would mean the children could be returned. He said the children have never been given drugs
or exposed to drugs.
A ministry official said Tuesday social workers can remove children from their parents if they
are suspected of giving them drugs, exposing them to drugs, or involving them in selling or
cultivating drugs.
The ministry can also remove children if drugs render their parents incapable of responsible
parenting, the official said.
The official would not comment specifically on Carlisle's case.
In its guidelines for how patients can apply for an exemption to use marijuana, Health Canada
specifies the health minister will consider the seriousness of the medical condition, how the
use of the drug will help the patient, whether the patient has tried other therapies and whether
the patient's doctor recommends use of the drug.
The patient must provide the federal ministry with a name, address, birth date, gender and
medical diagnosis.
The guidelines do not say whether Health Canada considers whether the patient has children,
but they say the health minister can request other information from the patient.
But Carlisle said provincial authorities have ignored his federal exemption, and he charged that
other federal exemptees have also had problems with social workers.
Carlisle's adoptive father, reached at his home in Hope, said Tuesday he does not speak to his
son.
George Carlisle said his son's daughter Katherine has lived with him on and off for the past
three years, in part because Brian is not a good parent.
"They're on and off, you know," George Carlisle said of his son and Lofton.
When asked to explain, he said: "They're not reliable. He hasn't been here for a long time as
far as I'm concerned."
Brian Carlisle said that he and his father have differences of opinion, but he rejected George's
comments about his parenting.
"I've been there for Katherine since the day she was born."
Carlisle has taken a high-profile role in the fight to legalize marijuana for medical purposes.
He became an exemptee this year to treat his glaucoma and chronic pain.
Carlisle also made headlines last February when he drove to Ontario to attend a Health
Canada conference of medical marijuana. Carlisle said at the conference that he wants Health
Canada to set up a ministry of marijuana and that the government should make him minister.
MAP posted-by: Derek
