NO DOUBT ABOUT IT

Dear Editor:

Re: 'Medical' pot smoker wins dispute with bar

As a Federal Medical Marijuana Licence Holder who's also married to
one, I find it deeply disturbing to still see quotation marks on the
word, medical, when talking about marijuana. The medical efficacy of
cannabis is long-known, well-documented and easily found online.

Admittedly, the general public is still in the dark about the issues
that face medical marijuana users, but when reporters or news editors
put quotes on the word or phrase, it casts unnecessary doubts on
something that's already proven valid. It suggests that, maybe, these
medical pot smokers are still "getting away with something naughty,"
rather than trying to improve their health, which is the reality.

Also, I feel bad for both Gibson and Gator Ted, but what they should
have done was got together and complained against the Ontario Liquor
Board. They still could, in fact. It's Alcohol and Gaming Commission
of Ontario regulations that failed to accommodate licenced medical
users, thus forcing Gator Ted to do the only thing he could do.

The Ontario Liquor Licence Act states: "The licence holder shall not
permit a person to hold, offer for sale, sell, distribute or consume
a controlled substance as defined in the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act (Canada) on the premises or in the adjacent washrooms,
liquor and food preparation areas and storage areas under the
exclusive control of the licence holder."

If you want to get technical about it, licenced medical pot users are
forbidden from entering any place with a liquor licence because they
are, by their licence holding, either holding some pot, or they are
"on" pot at any given time. The Act has not been amended to
accommodate us, and can't be until Ottawa enacts the Medical
Marijuana Access Regulations into actual law.

Confused? Try living with it.

Russell Barth

Federal Medical Marijuana Licence Holder

Nepean