FEDS' FUZZY LOGIC ON POT

Thursday's long-awaited Quebec Court decision about medical marijuana
reveals with painful clarity just what a mess the federal government has
made of this issue. Now Ottawa needs to act clearly and promptly to correct
the confusing situation it has created.

Quebec Court Judge Gilles Cadieux made what sense he could of hypocritical
and incoherent federal policy: if Ottawa says medical marijuana is
legitimate, he ruled, then supplying medical marijuana cannot be
illegitimate. The restriction against distributing the stuff, he logically
concluded, is not justifiable. Judge Cadieux prudently declined, however,
to strike down the marijuana law altogether, saying that sort of decision
is for higher courts. He restricted his ruling to the one case in front of him.

There's a simple remedy for this shambles: Ottawa should acknowledge that
at this point there is no such thing as "medical marijuana." Some studies
have suggested that the stuff is effective against some sorts of pain in a
way that medical painkillers are not. Those findings are not unanimous or
conclusive, however, and in any case, the medical community is quite clear:
because there's too little clinical information about marijuana's
interaction with other drugs, because dosage cannot be controlled
precisely, and for other such reasons, it should not be used as a medical
drug. Some 18 months ago, the Canadian Medical Association said officially
that "it is premature for Health Canada to expand the medicinal use of
marijuana before there is adequate scientific support."

Individual MDs have the right to prescribe marijuana, but several
organizations - notably, the Canadian Medical Protective Association, which
helps defend MDs from malpractice suits - have warned of legal dangers that
could follow. In short, this drug, like any other, needs full clinical
testing before it's approved for medical use on humans.

The push for "medical marijuana" started with Allan Rock, then health
minister, who was apparently eager to be sure he got credit for being
progressive. Proceeding speedily, showing more political calculation than
medical consultation, he ignored questions such as "if it's legal to buy
it, how can it be illegal to sell it?" Canadians can thank Mr. Rock for the
current legal shambles.

It's artfully manipulative to bring the terminally ill into this
political/scientific issue. Following Thursday's ruling, Compassion Club
activists didn't bother to hide the political nature of their campaign or
their eagerness to keep expanding: they unfurled a banner advertising a new
Internet and mail-order service and even claimed that buyers should qualify
for a tax break for their political donation. With even a few physicians
willing to approve requests, this Pandora's box of legal confusion is now
wide open.

As we have said before, we believe that simple marijuana possession should
not be a criminal offence. Wholesaling and importing, however, should
remain illegal, as a way of limiting public access to this mind-altering
substance; there could be lesser penalties for the crime of retailing. But
such changes should come through legislation, not through the sort of
quasi-legal guerrilla theatre we saw this week.

With Mr. Rock moved on to another department, his successor Anne McLellan
should straighten this out: no more loopholes for "medical" marijuana, and
prompt, reliable clinical testing and related reliability measurements.
Meanwhile, the federal government should proceed toward decriminalization
of marijuana across the board. Canadians deserve clear policy and clear laws.