CANNABIS LAWS

Re: Medical Marijuana, A. Anne McLellan, Letters, Aug. 29 (Re: Medical
Marijuana Plan Still on Track, Health Minister Says, Aug. 27.)

Twenty dollars says this huge announcement that Minister McLellan made was
predicated by a VERY urgent phone call from her old co-workers in the
Department of Justice, mentioning that it's very likely that a judge could
issue an injunction stopping enforcement of ALL cannabis possession laws in
Ontario.

Because of the Terry Parker ruling by the Supreme Court of Ontario, (which
was never appealed by Ms. McLellan when she was justice minister), Health
Canada was to have an effective, workable distribution network for Section
56 medicinal cannabis consumers by Aug. 1, 2001, or else face legalization
in Ontario.

Her statements at the meeting of the Canadian Medical Association,
responding to Kingston, Ont., prohibitionist Dr. Raju Hajela's repetition
of a discredited medical study, made it quite clear that Ms. McLellan has
no intention of making it easy for sick people to access their medicine.

Since clinical trials have been completed in the UK and show the
effectiveness of cannabis in the treatment of a host of illnesses, it can
only be argued that this half-hearted announcement was an attempt to be
able to argue the fiction that the cannabis laws are still in effect in
Ontario when the inevitable legal challenge comes.

Tim Meehan

Communications Director, Ontario Consumers for Safe Access to Recreational
Cannabis

Toronto