FILLING THE VOID

After an Ontario court ruled in the year 2000 that the prohibition of
marijuana was unconstitutional if it did not contain any exemption for
medical use, the federal government panicked. In response to the
ruling, Ottawa hastily came up with a system of production and
distribution of medical marijuana that was riddled with logistical
problems.

A decade later, things aren't much better for patients with a licence
from Health Canada to use marijuana to treat a variety of symptoms
related to a host of illnesses. Many still struggle to find consistent
access to high-quality cannabis through legal means and, as a result,
turn to the burgeoning black market to fill their prescriptions.

This, of course, can be both difficult and daunting to an otherwise
law-abiding citizen, especially one who is suffering from chronic pain
or terminal illness. To ease the process, so-called "compassion clubs"
have sprung up across the country to help these patients obtain their
medicine.

And while they provide a range of services, many of these clubs have
become de facto marijuana dispensaries and have been shut down by
police. A club in Courtenay was busted just last week and another in
Chilliwack was shut down last month.

And so it's understandable that, after urging city councillors on
Monday night to support the creation of a compassion club in
Castlegar, Dan Loehndorf and Jim Leslie were somewhat reluctant to
speak directly to members of the local media outside city hall. When
pressed, Loehndorf explained that they're trying to walk a fine line
between promoting a cause that they are both passionate about and not
drawing too much attention to their activities. They want to minimize
the chance of provoking a police response, he said, if and when a
compassion club is established in this city.

The British Columbia Compassion Club Society admits it operates in a
legal "grey zone" but argues its services are necessary given the
shoddy state of Canada's medical marijuana program. We'd be inclined
to agree.

The "grey zone" here was created by the federal government and its
failure to address the 2000 court ruling. In the absence of a proper
system of distribution, compassion clubs are preferable to the
alternatives of patients either going directly to the black market or
simply seeing their prescriptions go unfilled.

Besides, the legal status of marijuana in Canada has been measured in
shades of grey for years now. Several attempts at decriminalization in
Parliament and an inconsistent enforcement of the law from city to
city and police officer to police officer have left the public
confused as to exactly how illegal this ostensibly illegal substance
is.

It's high time that Canada clarified the laws and programs surrounding
marijuana, medical and otherwise. In the meantime, compassion clubs
are, for the most part, doing good work to fill the void.