COURT RULES IN FAVOUR OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA USERS

National News / Government Joints Not Doing The Job For
Patients

A federal court has decided that multiple patients can legally obtain
medical marijuana from a grower other than the government.

The ruling, issued Thu, Jan 10, strikes down the law that states a
private medical marijuana grower can only grow pot for one patient at
a time. It will make it easier for patients not to use government
marijuana, which many have argued is ineffective in treating their
symptoms and too expensive.

"I'm obviously pleased that someone in authority agrees that something
needs to be done to assist sick people who can't access medicine,"
says Alan Young, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the case,
30 patients who wanted to buy pot from a husband-and-wife growing operation.

The court did, however, decline to supervise the government's
implementation of the ruling. Young says he's concerned the government
will simply change the law to say a grower can only supply two or
three patients. He says the government can also appeal the ruling to
the Federal Court of Appeal.

"We may have to whack them again in court," says Young. "But I'm
hoping they'll create a ratio of grower to patients that makes sense."

In the hearing, which concluded at the end of November, Young argued
that government marijuana was not addressing the needs of patients.

"Our case is based on the fact that the government supply does not
meet the medical needs of patients," says Young.

Young says the roots of the case stretch back to 2000 when a court
first ruled that patients had the right to access marijuana for
medical use. The government responded by issuing the Medical Marijuana
Access Regulations which stated patients could either grow their own
or register someone else to grow the plants solely for them and for no
money.

A 2003 Ontario Court of Appeal ruling stated that registered growers
should be able to grow for a number of patients and should be able to
make money at it. But the court refused to order the government to
enact such legislation and said the government could choose to supply
marijuana itself.

Health Canada then decided to convert its own marijuana grower from
growing pot for medical research use to growing pot for distribution.
Patients were still allowed to grow their own and a supplier growing
plants for one patient only was now allowed to sell it.

Young says the initial government pot was terrible, although he admits
it has improved considerably since. But he says Health Canada will
only grow one strain of pot, reducing the range of diseases that can
be treated.

"Different strains have different therapeutic effects," says Young.
"This is pretty much accepted in medical circles. But the government's
position is that different strains are like different brands of rum."

Young says the government strain is good for fighting nausea and
inducing appetite - effective for cancer and AIDS patients - but much
less effective at fighting pain or seizures, as in epilepsy or
multiple sclerosis.

Young says the government has cut out medical testing completely since
the Harper government took over.

"I'd like to know more but they only distribute one strain and they
don't check with patients," he says.

The government's stubborness, Young says, is based on a continued
commitment to a war on drugs.

"They want to see it underground," he says. "It's all about optics. If
they open up too much it suggests marijuana isn't as dangerous as all
the furor over grow-ops would suggest."

Young also says the government should be distributing its pot for free
instead of charging $150 an ounce.

"When they were forced to distribute it they went after cost
recovery," he says. "It may be an improvement on the black market
price, but my clients could have sold it for $120 an ounce. And if a
grower is allowed to grow for 30 or 40 patients in a secure warehouse
they could sell it for as little as $20 an ounce."

Young says that many patients are unable to obtain access to the
government program because doctors are warned off by Health Canada or
by insurance companies.

"Doctors do not want to participate," he says. "A lot of people can't
get into the program. A lot of doctors won't sign the papers."

Many of those with the proper papers prefer to use other
sources.

"Eighty percent of patients don't use government marijuana," says
Young. "Probably the majority are buying from compassion clubs."

Young says he represents two clubs - which sell pot to medically
recognized patients - in Toronto with about 2,000 members each. He
says the clubs are technically illegal although the police have not
raided them since 2000 and, in that case, the prosecution was dropped.

"They have not successfully prosecuted a legitimate compassion club,"
he says.

Such clubs will now be be able to sell to patients but only if they
actually grow the pot themselves.