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A furor has erupted in the pro medical marijuana community about federal
Health Minister Anne McLellan's comments to the Canadian Medical
Association that she feels "uncomfortable" with the idea of the government
supplying a smokable substance to patients, when the federal government is
responsible for a huge anti-smoking lobby.

But for local AIDS, cancer and other chronically ill individuals in the
Greater Victoria area who take advantage of local compassion clubs that
supply pot to the ill, what would change if Health Canada was to all of a
sudden say it won't be distributing pot until clinical trials are
undertaken and completed on the crop from its one supplier, Prairie Plant
Systems in Flin Flon, Man.?

Outside of some major errors in judgment by so-called members - buying the
pot allegedly for medical reasons then re-selling it under the nose of the
police, actions that have seen the police step in - the activities and
distribution chain set up by the Cannabis Buyers' Club and the Vancouver
Island Compassion Club have gone on with relatively little interruption
from law enforcement agencies here.

Such clubs were originally set up in defiance of federal laws relating to
marijuana possession and distribution, yet they have become a mainstay of
alternative health services in many communities across Canada and in the
United States, where when residents in states in that country are asked if
they support marijuana use as medicine, more often than not vote yes in
state-wide votes even if their very own U.S. federal government does
everything in its power to thwart their will as expressed through the
ballot box.

It is unclear exactly how many people in the Capital Region are on Health
Canada's exemption list, one that allows them to legally use marijuana to
ease their pain and suffering.

Nationally, slightly more than 800 people have made it onto that list.
Compared to how many people in this country have terminal illnesses or
chronic pain and would do almost anything to relieve their symptoms, the
number is extremely small. Add in the fact that none of those people have
received one thin joint under the government program and one wonders just
how devoted the fed's were in making it work, even before the seemingly
confused McLellan took her new post earlier this summer.

Former Health Minister Allan Rock's Liberal party leadership aspirations
may have played a part in his decision this week to one-up McLellan and say
that when he was in charge, his department was ready to distribute pot
while trials were going on.

After hearing the feds have their say on the issue, local medical pot
advocate Ted Smith gave out a few theories of his own about the whole
government distribution idea. One is that doctors and politicians are
causing people in pain further suffering by slowing down the process of
what appears to be the inevitable legalization of marijuana, if not only
for medical purposes but for all users. No doubt, many who use pot to ease
their pain will wonder if and when they can sign up for trials. But even if
they don't get a chance, they will still likely have the option of taking
comfort by using the services of compassion clubs. The question is whether
those options will be narrowed, or even eliminated, by a federal health
department that seems rather paranoid and a little fuzzy-headed on this issue.