MEDICINAL POT USERS BEWARE

(Re: 'Cameron figures he'd rule as PM for a day' in the Sept. 1 edition
of the Examiner)

"First, I'd legalize marijuana." This will never, ever, happen.

When -- not if, but when -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper gets his
majority government, he will shut down the Medical Marijuana Program
at Health Canada the very next day.

This will be in open violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, but we all know how Harper feels about that pesky Charter.

Everyone who has a marijuana license right now will immediately be
considered criminals, and will be arrested and charged. I have no
doubt about this, because the government has all of our names,
addresses, and plant and storage limits on file, so even for the
Mounties, this will be an easy round up.

And don't think they will do it discreetly, either. They will boast to
the public that these druggies and their dangerous drugs are finally
off the streets. That is how they think of us; as addicts who tricked
their doctors into prescribing a poison.

Then we will all go to jail. For being sick. My wife, who has
epilepsy, will begin seizing in days. She cannot tolerate the food, so
she will get sick very fast. If the jail medical staff shoot her full
of drugs (standard protocol for seizures, but not for her) she could
literally die.

I would not be able to eat the food due to my illnesses, so I would
either starve or defecate myself to death in a matter of days. A
Harper majority will literally mean the deaths of me, and my wife, and
hundreds of other medical pot users across the country.

If you think this is an exaggeration, ask any Conservative MP or
candidate what the Harper plan is for marijuana users, and they have a
one word answer: 'jail.'

To them, medical marijuana is about as valid as medical cocaine, which
- -- ironically -- is actually legal.

Russell Barth Federally-licensed, medical marijuana user Nepean,
Ontario