MARIJUANA LICENCE DELAY AT CENTRE OF PROTEST

Before heading into the courtroom Thursday, he admitted he's a little
nervous but remarks afterwards it was like getting a needle as the
judge remanded his case to Oct. 13.

The 47 year old had never been in trouble with the law until city
police raided his apartment Sept. 1 and seized his marijuana plants.

A medicinal marijuana user, he had been licensed to grow his own
marijuana for a year but his annual renewal hadn't come back in time
from Health Canada. On that day, his crop became illegal but he was
assured it would be fine.

He says police were tipped off when someone jumped his back fence,
stole some of his plants, among other things, and got caught.

"It was under lock and key...no one even knew about it," says Petherick.

He's also charged with having booby traps in place, which police
described as boards with nails sticking out of them. Mr. Petherick
dismisses that as simply a few boards with nails in them sitting out
back of his home.

"If you step on it, you're just a dumb ass," he says.

Mr. Petherick isn't the only person in his predicament, which is why
more than a dozen people gathered in front of the courthouse Thursday to rally.

Vycki Fleming has taken up the cause. She's never been into drugs,
alcohol or smoking but now she has Crohn's Disease and marijuana is
critical for her. She had initially been on opiods but says they were
killing her. People, she insists, should have a choice in their medication.

Part of the problem, she points out, is marijuana is demonized by
being lumped in with crack and heroin.

If Health Canada can't process the required licences in time, she
says they should offer temporary ones like you get for your driver's licence.

Martin Kaneva and his mother Helen made the trip from Hamilton for
the rally. He's terminally ill with cancer and doesn't want to be
doped up on morphine, having been through 35 prescriptions since
December. He's still waiting for his renewal.

"This is criminal what they're doing to people," says his mother,
tears in her eyes.

She's having trouble watching her son suffer.

Jenny Coxwell is holding another rally Oct. 1 at 2 p.m. in front of
MP Dean Del Mastro's office at 1600 Lansdowne St. W. to protest Bill
S-10 and its proposed minimum sentences for marijuana convictions.

She had to fight for five years to get medicinal marijuana for her
Crohn's Disease and has found through her studies that it's the
safest medication for her.

Beverly Annis has been told to tell police to call Health Canada if
she's asked about her prescription.

"We could be arrested because the paperwork hasn't been completed," she says.

"I'm a month expired."

Health Canada spokesperson Christelle Legault admits the organization
is behind schedule. They try to process applications in eight to 10
weeks but the amount of new applications has doubled over the last year.

"To address this situation, Health Canada has implemented a strategy
that will improve the efficiency of its review and authorization
process, and to restore standard processing times of 8 to 10 weeks,"
she writes in an e-mail, adding, "It is important to note that
applications respecting symptoms treated within the context of
compassionate end-of-life care are treated immediately upon receipt."

Marijuana use not licensed, she says, could end with the police calling.

"In the case of an individual whose production licence has expired,
Health Canada can disclose whether an application has been made to
renew the licence prior to the date of expiry as well as the status
of the application," she writes

Sergeant Walter DiClemente says Peterborough police have a
responsibility to respond to drug crimes. If someone doesn't have a
licence, it's illegal.

"Our officers do contact Health Canada," he states.

"If the card's not valid, it may not be valid for specific reasons."

At that point, he says, it's up to the justice system to make the
right decision.

"It's unfortunate that it happens this way," he adds.

MP Del Mastro says it's not an issue anyone has confronted him about
but says it's important for Health Canada to do their due diligence
in renewing licences. He add sdoctors should make the choices on prescriptions.

"I think we have to put faith in our physicians," he emphasizes.