OTTAWA MOVES TO TIGHTEN MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS

Postmedia News

The federal gov-ernment will be changing laws for medical marijuana
growers, but will not address an aspect of those laws that many
critics and several courts say is unconstitutional.

Government began the updating process Friday, launching public
consultations on a list of proposed changes, Health Minister Leona
Aglukkaq said.

The changes, which would eliminate individual and private growers
from the current system, were prompted by concerns from police,
firefighters, mayors and doctors across Canada.

They say the current system becomes dangerous when growers don't
follow electrical, health and safety bylaws, and that with so many
licences floating around it's difficult to know who is licensed and
whether growers are honouring the conditions.

Aglukkaq said the gov-ernment hopes the changes will "reduce the risk
of abuse . . . while significantly improving the way program
participants access marijuana for medical purposes."

But in April, the Superior Court in Ontario - ruling in the case of
Matt Mernagh - found the system to be unconstitutional and ordered
the government to change the medical marijuana program, a decision
the government has since appealed.

Matt Mernagh started growing pot when he found it provided some
relief from chronic pain and other symptoms of his scoliosis,
fibromyalgia and epilepsy. But he couldn't get a licence to grow,
because his doctor wouldn't sign the document Health Canada requires.

Police found Mernagh's plants in 2008. He was charged with production
and possession, and tried.

"The Superior Court said the laws he was charged under, growing, are
unconstitutional, because there isn't a functional med-pot system,"
his lawyer Paul Lewin said.

The government was given 90 days to come up with a constitutional
regime. Government has asked to have that ruling put on hold until
the appeal is heard.

The Health Canada propositions posted Friday don't address the court
rulings. The changes remove the agency from licensing and
distributing, and instead require a patient to present a document
from a doctor to a licensed producer.