NOTHING MEDICINAL ABOUT JUDICIAL MARIJUANA

It's hard to account for the persistent incoherence of the federal
government's "medicinal marijuana" policy. We don't really believe our
cabinet has been running its own unsupervised clinical testing
sessions, but ....

This week, Health Minister Anne McLellan added more confusion and
controversy to what has been an ill-conceived venture from the start,
with the announcement people with medical dispensations to smoke
marijuana will be supplied with it by the government, through doctors.

Approved users, of whom there are roughly 600, will be able to buy the
drug for $5 a gram, which is about half the current Montreal street
price. The product, from the marijuana farm the government has set up
in an abandoned Manitoba mine, will be couriered to doctors, who will deal
it to approved patients.

Once again, as has been the case every step of the way on this issue,
the government has managed to displease everyone involved, from the
pro-marijuana lobby to marijuana opponents, and particularly doctors, who
find themselves conscripted as middlemen for this scheme.

Marijuana advocates complain the government's approach is
half-hearted, and the new program might prove temporary. Indeed, this
week's announcement was last-minute compliance with a court judgment,
and McLellan made it clear she was acting with the greatest
reluctance. The government is appealing the decision and could well
scrap the new delivery program if it wins.

So up to a point, McLellan had little choice here. But the cabinet
could have dealt with the issue more comprehensively, and sensibly, long
ago. It did not.

Why are courts making the drug laws, anyway? That's Parliament's job.
We speak of "medical marijuana," but in fact, it's better understood
as "judicial marijuana," imposed on the country undemocratically and
unreasonably.

Almost every detail of this delivery system is goofy. One example: The
government will sell seeds to users ($20 for 30 seeds) so they can
grow their "medicine." Does anyone pretend only the sick will consume the
resulting crop?

The medical community is justifiably incensed at being dragged into
this business against its better judgment, which is that there is no
reliable scientific evidence marijuana is better than other
treatments. Nor is there complete information on marijuana's effects,
particularly if taken in conjunction with other drugs.

Doctors also worry they could face malpractice suits from patients who
develop complications. They also fear they will be harassed by
not-so-sick patients making spurious demands for marijuana. They warn of
break-ins by people seeking marijuana.

The most sensible position on all this was put forward by the
opposition Canadian Alliance, which has been against medical marijuana from
the outset.

Rob Merrifield, the Alliance critic, notes research on the actual
medical effects of marijuana will begin only this fall. He reasonably
suggests until the medical evidence is in, the government is putting
the cart before the horse by allowing people to take the drug for
medical reasons.