LEGAL POT TOUGH TO GET

Dear editor,

This letter is about a story in the Gazette on June 24, Absolute
discharge for medical marijuana user.

This demonstrates the problem with the system - the judges don't even
get it. A letter is not what it takes for legal cannabis.

The letter can get patients cannabis through compassion clubs, which
are essentially operating illegally, but very much needed.

However, they will do nothing when the police are kicking down your
door.

To get legal, one must go through an application process and wait
months (sometimes in excess of six) for Health Canada to send you your
official documents.

And then you need to renew every year, with documentation being
regularly late, leaving patients again vulnerable to the law.

And this is only if you can find a doctor to sign the
forms.

Many doctors refuse to sign, due to personal beliefs or ideology, or
because they feel pressure from or fear repercussion from their
licensing bodies, or because they are simply not educated about how
cannabis functions as a medicine.

The tightening of our drug laws by the Conservative government is also
putting these patients at risk. As these laws tighten, the Ma and Pa
growers will be afraid of jail time and will quit, leaving only
organized criminals to fill the void.

This will raise prices, making the product more valuable, and you can
bet that medical patients will become an easy target for a violent
grow-rip.

End this madness and legalize cannabis.

Andrew Brown

Nanaimo. B.C.