GUELPH MAN ACTIVE IN SETTING UP MEDICAL MARIJUANA NETWORK

GUELPH -- A year ago, Guelph's Medical Cannabis Club was raided by
police. Its founder, Rade Kovacevic, has since been influential in the
creation of a national network of medical cannabis
dispensaries.

It is to be the first of its kind in Canada.

"It means (patients) will have the same quality of patient care across
Canada," said Kovacevic in a phone interview Tuesday after the
Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries was announced at
a news conference in Ottawa.

He said that different standards currently exist among compassion
clubs across the country that have been providing marijuana to
Canadians suffering from illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, cancer
and multiple sclerosis.

Nine founding directors of compassion clubs across the country and
three advisory board members for the national network are working to
create a list of standards and criteria for various dispensaries,
Kovacevic said.

"If you go to a dispensary in Ontario, it should be operating under
the same standards as a dispensary in British Columbia," he said.
"Similar to a pharmacy, you will know what to expect."

Although the network has been in the works for a year, its
announcement follows an Ontario Superior Court ruling in April that
could make the possession of marijuana legal in the province.

Justice Donald Taliano gave Ottawa until July to fix the federal
medical marijuana program or face the prospect of effectively
legalizing possession and production of cannabis.

The St. Catharines justice declared the program to be invalid, as well
as the laws prohibiting possession and production of cannabis, since
they can be used to criminally charge medical users unable to legally
access the drugs.

Paul Lewin, the Toronto lawyer who represented 37-year-old Matthew
Mernagh, whose criminal case led to the justice's decision, said the
federal government's rules have been repeatedly found
unconstitutional.

"(The government) doesn't want to take a responsible approach with
regulating the industry," he said, adding the network of medical
marijuana dispensaries sounded ideal.

"These are the individuals that know the most about it," Lewin said.
"It's the perfect time. The industry is screaming out for it."

There are seriously ill Canadians with doctors who think it's
outrageous to prescribe medical marijuana, Lewin said. Mernagh suffers
from fibromyalgia, scoliosis, seizures and depression.

It causes people to be stressed and shamed when they try to access the
drugs through other means, he said.

The justice's decision on the Mernagh case is to come before the
Ontario Court of Appeal, although a date hasn't been set.

Meanwhile, Kovacevic and two other former employees from the Guelph
compassion club, still face drug trafficking and drug production
charges which arose from the police raid last May. A two-day trial in
the matter has been set for December.