COMPASSION CLUBS FORM GROUP TO PUSH FOR BETTER REGULATION

At Present, the 40 Dispensaries Across the Country Each Make Up Their
Own Rules for the Members They Serve

Medical marijuana clubs across the country have formed an association
to lobby for a better regulatory system that would legalize their
existence and improve patient access to the controversial drug.

Called the Canadian Association of Medicinal Cannabis Dispensaries,
the non-profit group's directors from B.C., Ontario and Quebec
unveiled their strategy Tuesday at an Ottawa media conference.

The first of the dispensaries, also known as compassion clubs, was
established in Vancouver about 15 years ago and now there are about 40
across Canada.

But they are not part of the federal government's medical marijuana
regulatory regime, which was established later, in 2001.

"What we have now is a patchwork of self-imposed regulations [with
each club dispensing marijuana according to its own rules]," said Dana
Larsen, former provincial NDP leadership contender, manager of the
Vancouver Medical Cannabis Dispensary and a founding director of the
new association.

The goal, he explained, is to create a common set of regulations to
ensure dispensaries operate uniformly and make it easier for patients
to buy cannabis products at any outlet in Canada.

At the moment, the operators risk criminal charges for drug
trafficking, although police tolerate them given court decisions
criticizing the inadequate legal delivery system and Ottawa's slow
response to patient complaints.

Patients say the medical marijuana program is a disaster and that
without the clubs they would have to buy from streetcorner dealers.

An Ontario court recently struck down the anti-cannabis criminal law
because the medical program is so flawed.

In the eyes of the judge, it is unconstitutional for the government to
enforce a criminal prohibition without providing appropriate access to
the drug for patients who benefit from its therapeutic values.

The federal government has appealed the ruling, saving the criminal
law for now, and Health Canada insists it is contemplating changes to
the program.

The dispensaries say they are serving more than 20,000 people with
conditions including HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, cancer, arthritis,
glaucoma and multiple sclerosis; Health Canada is putatively serving
about half that.

Part of the problem is that Health Canada provides only one strain of
dried cannabis for patients to smoke; the clubs provide a variety of
different strains along with edible cannabis products and tinctures,
all of which provide different kinds of relief.

If patients don't want to buy the government's pot, they can obtain a
permit to legally grow their own or someone can obtain a permit to
grow it for them.

It's a crazy system -sick people being told to go home and grow their
medication, which means they'll have a dose in three or four months.

The clubs have filled a vacuum and now want their existence recognized
and regularized. It's about time.

There are 10 in Metro Vancouver, another 10 across the province and 20
more scattered across the country, mostly in the Toronto-Montreal areas.

"At the end of the day, this is about providing patients with a
medication they desperately need," Larsen said.

"After 10 years, everyone is tired of waiting for the federal
government to abide by the courts and regulate medical marijuana
dispensaries."

Rielle Capler, a force behind the B.C. Compassion Club Society, who
sits on the new group's advisory board, added: "The courts have upheld
the work of dispensaries, but there isn't any legislation or
regulation to match that."

True, that's because marijuana still provokes too much fear among
politicians and Ottawa is leery of relaxing access after a century of
strident anti-drug campaigning.

This new association could trigger a discussion to change that.