GRASS MAY BE GREENER IN QUEBEC, POT ADVOCATE SAYS

Health Canada Doing Poor Job Of Getting Marijuana To Patients:
Cannabis Supporter

Health Canada has done such a poor job of dispensing medical marijuana
to sick patients, Quebec should assume control of the program in the
province, Montreal cannabis advocates say.

Nearly seven years after the federal regulations came into effect,
patients with severe illnesses still run into problems gaining access
to medical marijuana, said Marc-Boris St-Maurice, founder and
president of the Compassion Club on Rachel St.

Under the program, patients with a grave or debilitating illness must
apply for a permit from Health Canada that gives them the right to
smoke marijuana to control their chronic pain. They can either grow
the cannabis or purchase it from Prairie Plant Systems in Flin Flon,
Man.

To obtain a permit, a doctor must fill a form attesting to the
patient's debilitating condition.

"There are many problems with access and incredibly long delays in
getting a permit," St-Maurice said at a news conference. "Months can
go by from when you apply ... and when you get it. Many doctors are
still reluctant to sign the forms."

Some patients who have been unable to pay for marijuana supplied by
Prairie Plant Systems have to contend with collection agencies,
St-Maurice also noted.

"It's unfair for people who are sick and suffering to have to deal
with the stress of a collection agency. That's why we're hoping that
by getting the province behind the program, we'll avoid some of these
problems."

But an aide to Quebec Health Minister Philippe Couillard ruled out the
possibility. "This is Health Canada's responsibility and there is no
reason for that to change," said Marie-Eve Bedard, Couillard's press
attache.

Philippe Laroche, a media relations officer for Health Canada,
defended the federal program as compassionate.

"Health Canada has an obligation to provide a consistent, high
quality, legally available source of marijuana to people authorized
under the marijuana medical access regulations," Laroche wrote in an
email to The Gazette.

"Health Canada is committed to providing compassionate access to
marijuana for medical purposes to people who are suffering from
serious illness, for whom conventional therapies have not worked and
who have the support of their physician."

St-Maurice said the Compassion Club has asked the Quebec Human Rights
Commission to determine whether the rights of patients in need of
medical marijuana have been infringed.

The Montreal Compassion Club has about 1,000 members. The club
operates in a legal gray zone, selling marijuana to those who have a
permit from Health Canada or who have a documented medical need for
it.