MEDICAL MARIJUANA USERS CAUGHT UP IN RENEWAL DELAY

Arbi Kevorkian has always made sure his weed is legal.

Every summer for the past four years, Kevorkian has sent off the
renewal form to Health Canada two months before his medical marijuana
licence expires in July.

The licence always arrived back in time for his next prescription
refill, allowing Kevorkian to use the otherwise illegal substance
without fear of being arrested or charged. But this year, nearly four
months after he sent in his renewal form in March, he still hasn't
received a response from Health Canada and has no clue when it might
come.

"When I called them two weeks ago, they just say, 'We're severely
backlogged,' " said Kevorkian, whose licence expired last week. His
doctor prescribed him five grams of cannabis a day for Tourette
syndrome nearly four years ago.

"They are forcing us to go the black market," said
Kevorkian.

He took his concerns to a local compassion club, which provides
support and information to patients, and found dozens of other legal
marijuana users in the same bind.

Blaine Dowdle, founder of Hemp Users Medical Access Network in
Toronto, said he has been getting calls from panicked patients who
have been awaiting their renewed licences for months. Some have been
arrested and charged for possession of marijuana in the interim.

Health Canada says licence renewal delays only comes if there are
inconsistencies in the renewal or application form. Otherwise it
should only take eight to 10 weeks to process. The current delay is
due to an "increase in the volume of applications received by the division."

The increase could be due to an increasing number of physicians
willing to prescribe cannabis for certain conditions, said Dowdle.

In June 2009, the last time Health Canada published data by province,
1,631 people had authorization to possess marijuana in Ontario. The
Toronto Compassion Club says they have seen their membership rise by
100 people in the last three months.

Even though Health Canada may simply be short-staffed, Dowdle believes
the problem is the Conservative government's half-hearted support of
the program.

"The medical marijuana division has been chronically underfunded for
years . . . and just because of the ideological stance of the
Conservatives, there is a lot of speculation that they are limiting
the job of the medical marijuana division to do their jobs
effectively."