MEDICAL MARIJUANA BIG EXPENSE TO NEEDY

MY name is Donald Appleby and I have AIDS. Currently I am on a heavy
regime of anti-AIDS drugs and I must have my exemption for medicinal
marijuana.

Health Minister Allan Rock stood outside the House and said that
Canadians could distinguish between compassionate use and
recreational use of marijuana but it would appear that his own Health
Department can't seem to make up their minds. I've carried in my
pocket a prescription for marijuana from my family doctor for over
two years now and the department refused to recognize his right to
prescribe. But this is an issue between me and my doctor. Rock and
his department need to butt out.

I have been a grower of pot for some five years now. You should have
some idea about what it costs to grow good marijuana. First off, you
need the lights, the metal halide for vegetative growth and sodium
vapour for flowering and they are not cheap. Cost for seeds are dear.
I've spent over $400 just on seeds. There's air conditioning to cool
in the summer and fans to move air in the winter. There are ozone
machines to control smell and odours, $400 more; dehumidifiers to
remove moisture to avoid mould and bacteria that are enemies of the
plants. Fans everywhere to move the air around, pots, trays, soil,
pro-mix and, last but not least, fertilizer. Carbon dioxide machines
to replenish CO2 lost, timers, powerbars, mylar to reflect light.
Nutrients have to be bought and they aren't cheap either, maybe $250.
Ph has to be adjusted and those meters cost $100 as well as the light
meters to test the efficiency of your lights. Add to this the cost of
rent and Hydro and you find yourself going broke to pay for your
medication. The only alternative is to give a drug dealer $600 per
month and I just refuse to do that anymore.

The government will allow one person to grow for three additional
people. Well, at three grams per day, that's 360 grams a month.
That's a lot of pot to grow. You would need to buy a lot more
equipment and grow hundreds of plants.

My last crop of 22 plants netted me only 100 grams of dried bud, but
that was an organic experiment. Usually I can grow 200 grams from 24
plants in three months and I still run out. Plus there is a need to
keep four or five healthy mothers for cloning and breeding programs
so that I can develop better crosses of hybrids.

All of this costs money and nowhere in the guidelines do I see where
it says who is going to pay. If it is the patient who is to bear the
cost, then we must recoup our investment from them. It isn't cheap.

I think that the government needs to make small business loans
available to those with exemptions so that we may do what it is that
we do. I don't have a problem with authorities knowing what I do but
your application process has left many people unfairly hanging in the
wind. Thank God that we now have judges who are awarding compensation
for this treatment by your department. Two years later and $4,000
invested, not to mention a $100 bill from my doctor to fill out forms
to document my death to your department's satisfaction and you won't
even pay for that. The response I get from your department is that it
is in the permit business, not the refund business.

It would appear that you will not pay for anything, so excuse me if
my confidence in the government's ability to deal with this crisis is
waning. How can I suggest others get involved when your department
continues to put up roadblock after roadblock. And after the
treatment that I've received, I'm not likely to recommend this
process to anyone. It's certainly helped kill me.

Donald Appleby