COMPASSION CLUBS COULD DELIVER MEDICAL POT

The federal government should look at the "compassion clubs" springing up in B.C. to deliver medical marijuana in light of an Ontario court ruling striking down the law on pot possession, says a Fraser Valley lawyer.

John Conroy, a Queen's Counsel who advocates marijuana decriminalization, says the so-called war on drugs that started back in the 1970s has not worked and is "a total fraud" that targets "mostly the poor and marginal in society" not middle- and upper-class users.

"There's a whole range of treatments done for these people (at the clubs), not just the supplying of marijuana," he says.

Last week Ontario appeal judges ruled Canada's Controlled Drug and Substance Act is unconstitutional in the case of epileptic Terry Parker, a 44-year-old who claimed his 15 to 80 weekly seizures are controlled by marijuana. The appeal court gave Ottawa one year to amend the law or see pot possession effectively legalized.

A federal program already allows pot patients to seek medical exemptions from the marijuana law.

But Mr. Conroy says the Justice Minister can't have "unfettered discretion" to decide who is eligible for the exemption, like the committees that once decreed who could have abortions.

He says that creates "an illusion" of a possible defence, violating fundamental principles of justice.

Earlier court rulings in abortion and euthanasia cases have found the state cannot threaten persons whose health may be affected with loss of liberty.

"Before you threaten people's liberty in a free and democratic society, the risk to the public has to be seen as substantial, not just trivial," Mr. Conroy says.

He agrees if possession for medical use is legalized, the line between recreational use will get "fuzzier" because it can be argued that marijuana is a stress reliever like alcohol and tobacco.

"These illegal drugs are a minor problem," he says, compared to the damages done by alcohol, tobacco, and prescription drugs.

He says studies show most "low-use" marijuana smokers are adults who face no substantial health risk, although chronic users do face increased respiratory problems.

"The damage from marijuana is from the smoking process," he says.

B.C. courts regularly give absolute or conditional discharges to people caught growing marijuana for medical reasons and there is public support for medical use, he says.

"It's a matter of the government catching up, if you will"

Pot politician Norm Siefken, Marijuana Party candidate in the Fraser Valley, says he hopes to tap into that public sentiment in the next federal election and the Ontario court ruling is another arrow in his campaign quiver to decriminalize pot.

"It's a great decision," he says, but expects federal justice officials "to move within the 12-month period to maintain the current law."