BILL S-10 WOULD TARGET THE VULNERABLE

To the editor:

Re: 'Canadians back tougher sentences for drug dealers: Norlock',
Feb. 17, 2011.

MP Rick Norlock exemplifies the Conservatives laissez faire attitude
regarding Bill S-10's ramifications for gravely ill Canadians who use
cannabis as medicine.

Overwhelming barriers stymie access to the now 10 year old
constitutionally deficient Medical Marijuana Access Program. Only
6,000 patients have received a"Health Canada pink slip"validating
their medical marijuana requirement.

According to the Canadian Medical Association Journal (May 15, 2001;
164 (10)), at least 400,000 Canadians consume cannabis for medical
purposes. This vast discrepancy guarantees that Bill S-10 would target
and incarcerate severely ill citizens who are merely seeking to
maintain a medication supply.

Governmental calculations allow a patient with a gram a day allotment
to grow a five-plant garden. One gram provides the patient with no
more than three marijuana cigarettes per day. The federal opposition
parties know that Bill S-10 is dumb on crime and would be tough on
Canadians, especially some of the country's most vulnerable citizens
- -- our critically and chronically ill.

Debbie Stultz-Giffin

Bridgetown, N.S.

Chair of Maritimers Unite for Medical Marijuana Society