DELAY OVER MEDICAL MARIJUANA HURTS ILL

It took the government 15 months and $5.8 million of taxpayers' money paid
to a private firm to produce and harvest 1,800 kilos of marijuana in an
underground mine in Flin Flon, Manitoba.

A crop of marijuana from seed needs only four to five months. After the
crop was harvested and stored for one month, the government announced that
it will be disposed of.

Yet the government is approving new medical marijuana licences while
existing medical marijuana users still have no supply. You must be approved
by your doctor, and a specialist, and then it's sent to some person in a
cubicle in Ottawa for final approval.

On May 5, I marched in Toronto at the Million Marijuana March. Leading the
parade were three of Canada's first 14 legal exemptees, approved more than
two years ago. They still have no supply of or access to clean
medical-grade marijuana, and must involve themselves with the black market
or a Compassion Club for supply, which is a direct violation of their
exemptions and the law.

It doesn't look like they will have a supply any time soon, and those
opposed to the medical use of marijuana will enjoy hearing what the
government is doing with their money.

Fred Pritchard,

Windsor,

The Marijuana Compassion Club of Windsor