BUREAUCRATIC GENOCIDE

Health Canada Showing No Heart For Marijuana Exemptees

DR. DON KILBY says the process for the patient is hard enough as it is. The
new approach now makes things harder.

Photo by Shawn Scallen

Despite new Health Canada regulations making it legal for those who need
marijuana for medical reasons to possess, produce and cultivate the drug,
some say the new law now makes it even tougher to get an exemption.

The move by the Health Minister Alan Rock allows patients who suffer from
AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, severe arthritis and other
debilitating health conditions to use pot, within set amounts, to help off
set the effects caused by the medication they take. But supporters of
medical marijuana say there's even more bureaucratic red tape then ever before.

Marc Paquette, one of the country's first exemptees says before someone can
even qualify for exemptions they will be required to see several doctors
and specialists which is both time consuming and expensive.

Paquette adds that even with all the paper work in place it could still be
over a year before the government grants the exemption. "In my case it took
them 18 months to get me my exemption. 18 months of hell and bureaucratic
red tape," he says. Paquette says it is also unfair that exemptees before
the new regulations will have to re-apply to keep their status, a process
that could take several months. "I am very sick, I don't have that much
longer to live and the parameters that sick Canadians will have to meet to
have an exemption is even more difficult than before," he says. "In the
meantime we can't smoke anymore, we can't relieve our pain. They (Health
Canada) are putting us under a terrible stress," says Paquette.

Paquette says the government is heartless when dealing with exemptees.

On three occasions the government was two weeks late in sending him his
renewal application forcing him to break the law to get his pot. "I went
through hell dealing with them. They are constantly sending you forms to
fill out with threats that if you don't reply by a certain date they will
consider you no longer eligible for exemption," he says. Paquette wants a
constitutional exemption so he no longer has to deal with the government.

Paquette appeared in Federal Court on Aug 7 where he told Justice Pierre
Blais the predicaments he faces in trying to get his marijuana.

He also explained the conditions that Health Canada sets and the hoops that
exemptees have to face. Justice Blais was surprised to learn how far along
Paquette's case was and urged the lawyer representing Health Canada to move
faster on this issue.

Blais also suggested that Health Canada look at McGill University's
important permit to see if this could help Paquette in any way. Meanwhile,
Paquette and the court now await a response from Health Canada's Dr. Jody
Gomber on his 60-question affidavit dealing with all his concerns.

Doctor Don Kilby, long time advocate for medicinal marijuana, says the new
regulations are a step backwards.

He says it forces the dying and the disabled to have to jump through more
hoops than before. "There are now three different levels of applications.
The first level has to be done by a specialist in the area of the person
making the request, the second has to be done by at least two doctors and
the third level has to be done by three doctors," says Kilby. "The problem
created when you need to get two doctors is that patients referred to me
who have made applications come from physicians such as pain specialists
and neurologists who wont put there name on the application because they
don't want to be formally attached to the process." Kilby says this creates
further hardship for the patient. "The new approach now makes things harder.

They didn't have to do that. The process for the patient is hard enough as
it is. It's long enough as it is getting two or three physicians on one
application, it is going to make it longer and more tedious," says Kilby.
"These are people who are not that mobile, can't get around and are often
plagued with multiple appointments. The bureaucracy has made of mockery of
the Health Minister's intentions."

Another problem facing exemptees is the limits set by Health Canada, which
severely restrict the amount of pot a patient can have. Jean Charles
Parriseau, a Vanier man who suffers from AIDS, needs at least 2.5 grams a
day to help him ingest the some 48 pills a day he must take. His original
exemption allowed him to grow and cultivate all he needed, and Health
Canada cut back on that amount.

Now he can only produce enough pot for 1 gram a day, much lower than what
his doctor prescribed. "Because of these restriction patients often have to
go without or find themselves out in the street to buy, which is illegal
for them to do and they are at the mercy of the people selling it to them,"
says Kilby. Parriseau is scheduled for a hearing in Federal Court sometime
in late August or September to have his original exemption allow him to
have as much pot as he needs re-instated. However, because of his
deteriorating condition and unless someone comes forward to represent him,
the Court will have to rely on his written submission before making a decision.

Canada is the first country to adopt the use of medical marijuana and comes
just one year after a landmark Ontario Court of Appeal decision which ruled
that Canada's possession laws violated the rights of those who require the
use of marijuana for medical reasons.

Not everyone, however, is pleased with the new law. Some doctors fear there
will be floods of applications from patients, some perhaps using false forms.

The Canadian Medical Association is concerned and wants more research done
before proceeding any further, and the Canadian Society of Addiction
Medicine claims there is more risks then benefits.

There are also some suggestions that the government should simply
decriminalize marijuana.

A special Commons committee will begin cross-country hearings this fall and
is expected to make recommendations sometime next year.