COURT LOOKS AT MEDICAL MARIJUANA

National News / Government Joints Not Doing The Job For Patients

A federal court case could decide whether patients can legally obtain
medical marijuana from growers other than the government.

The hearing, which concluded at the end of November, will determine
whether private growers can provide for groups of medically recognized
patients or whether patients will have to buy government pot that
critics argue isn't effective.

"Our case is based on the fact that the government supply does not
meet the medical needs of patients," says lawyer Alan Young, who is
representing 30 patients who wanted to buy pot from a husband-and-wife
growing operation.

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 have someone else grow the plants solely for them and for no money.

A 2003 Ontario Court of Appeal ruling stated that 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 research use to growing pot for distribution. Patients
are still allowed to grow their own and a supplier growing plants for
one patient only is 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.

If Young wins such clubs would be able to sell to patients but only if
they actually grow the pot themselves.

A ruling is not expected before spring, after which the losing side
could take the case to the Federal Court of Appeal.