GROW YOUR OWN

There might be Canadians who, because of chronic pain or some other
reason, find that a glass of wine or a shot of whiskey before bed
helps them sleep, with less extreme side effects than other drugs.
Those Canadians can have that glass before bed, and nobody asks them
to fill out any paperwork or ask permission. Because that would be
ridiculous.

As ridiculous as Canada's medical marijuana system, which attempts to
formalize and regulate an illegal substance. As data obtained by the
Citizen show, there's been a spike in the number of people applying to
use the drug because of arthritis. Many of those people might have
other conditions, but the application process for arthritis is
relatively streamlined.

The data also appear to confirm what patients have been saying for
years: that many doctors simply refuse to take part in the program. In
the absence of research-based guidelines and training about dosage,
potency, sourcing and efficacy, some doctors just don't feel
comfortable.

The government wants to make changes to this system, changes that
would probably make the existing problems worse. Removing patients'
right to grow their own plants would force them to either use the
government-supplied drug, which many patients say is of poor quality,
or seek the drug on the streets. And giving doctors - who are already
nervous - even more say over who gets to smoke is unfair to doctors
and patients.

The simplest way out of this mess is simply to legalize or, at least,
decriminalize marijuana. Of course it isn't perfectly safe. But it
compares well to many drugs available by prescription or - as with
cigarettes and alcohol - over the counter. Legalizing and regulating
marijuana might also cut down on the safety problems associated with
clandestine grow ops, the problem the government is hoping to solve by
telling sick people they can't grow their own plants.