LICENSED MARIJUANA GROWERS NEED LEGAL PROTECTION

Anyone who steals a patient's prescription medicine should suffer the
appropriate consequences.

And anyone ailing with chronic pain similarly deserves the added
degree of protection by the system that afforded them the right to
use drugs otherwise deemed illegal. Stealing something that is
illegal - especially when the substance is legally exempt to someone
because of their health - just seems doubly wrong. Repeat offences
derive more serious punishments; so should crimes that infringe on
the ailing and those who face a greater risk of having their remedies stolen.

Recently, when a Brighton man caught a trespasser, mid-stride and
chatting on his cell phone, on footage from a newly-installed
security camera, and the resident expected the young intruder would
face adequate punishment. The homeowner said stealing prescribed
medication - in this case marijuana - is a more serious crime than
stealing some replaceable household good or a lesser break and enter
charge, the only charge the trespasser faces. The crime is different,
after all.

The problem is, it's hard to properly hide a plant that requires
nuclear doses of sunlight and moisture in Canada during winter. And
it's impossible for the rightful owner to stow the greenhouse plants
when he or she leaves home.

Sure, local law enforcement say this is an uncommon problem - robbing
medicinal pot from exempt growers - but the word on the street says
otherwise. Perhaps it's because such a negative stigma shrouds
marijuana and anyone who uses it, including medicinal users. But even
if it is uncommon, the severity of such thefts cannot be underestimated.

Crime reports often reveal prescription medication thefts are among
the leading causes of residential break and enters. Thieves target
specific drug types - valium, prescription pain-killers, and now,
medicinal pot. Some people are so desperate for a drug that is not
legally available, they opt to steal the substance, assuming the
theft is somehow justifiable because the owner presumptively
shouldn't have it either. That puts certain patients at a higher risk
and our laws should reflect their vulnerable situation.

Laws should better protect those people who are suffering unbearable pain.

Maybe it's nothing new after all, maybe it has just been overlooked
for too long. A few cases of medicinal pot theft could seed a young
drug trade in an otherwise crime-free community. As soon as a medical
exemptee's pot is stolen, the thief is breaking many other laws. If
the government has taken the trouble to confirm a substance is
illegal in any form, it should extend legal protection to those
people authorized to handle the illegal substance. If nothing is
done, the authorities risk fertilizing the illegal drug presence on
their own streets.

It's all about follow through, and exemptions should accompany a
heightened legal responsibility.