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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Canada: Canada Legalizes Marijuana For The Seriously Ill
Associated Press Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Germany)
Monday 30 Jul 2001 In Canada, patients with cancer, AIDS or multiple sclerosis will be permitted to consume marijuana, effective immediately. ) Seriously ill patients in Canada have achieved a goal they've spent years fighting for: Possession and manufacture of marijuana for medical purposes has been legalized, effective Monday. The new guidelines include patients of incurable diseases in their terminal phases, as well as those suffering from symptoms of such diseases as severe arthritis, cancer, AIDS, and multiple sclerosis. Those who grow marijuana for personal medical use are subject to inspections, and must not have any prior convictions. In addition, the government will distribute licenses to private firms which grow marijuana for research purposes. "Trailblazing decision" "With this trailblazing decision, we hope to contribute to an improvement in the quality of life for seriously ill Canadians, especially those who are terminally ill," announced Health Minister Allan Rock as he introduced the new guidelines. To prevent abuse, qualified participants are to receive a special photo ID. In the experience of many patients, marijuana relieves pain and other symptoms of illness, as well as side effects like nausea which are associated with medications and chemotherapy. Government forced to take this step Rock didn't mention that the government in Ottawa was more or less forced to take this step: The court of appeals of the province of Ontario had decided last August that a general ban on marijuana violated Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If Ottawa had not reacted within one year, all use of the drug in Ontario would have become legal, which might have led to legalization in the rest of the country. Individual patients had previously fought successfully in the courts for the right to marijuana; the first of these patients was Terrence Parker, a resident of Toronto. He has suffered from epilepsy since the age of four, and claims that he is able to keep his seizures under control with about three marijuana cigarettes a day. Keeping epilepsy under control with marijuana Since 1977, the 45-year-old man has been arrested repeatedly for drug possession. In 1997, a judge decided for the first time that Parker had a constitutional right to consume marijuana for medical purposes. About 70 marijuana plants had to be returned to him, having been confiscated by the police. The appeals court in Ontario upheld this opinion last August. Exceptions made for 200 patients since 1997 Following the 1997 decision, exceptions to Canada's 1923 ban on marijuana have been made for more than 200 Canadians. The problem: although they were permitted to consume and grow marijuana legally, they could not buy the drug. But many of them had no opportunity to grow marijuana themselves, for reasons of space or of their own health, and so again they came into conflict with police. The new guidelines provide for legal access to the drug for all qualified patients. They don't seem overly concerned with critics' warnings that the effects of marijuana have not yet been adequately scientifically researched. Hard line in the USA Unlike the neighboring United States-- which takes an uncompromising hard-line position on drug policy, and whose Supreme Court recently confirmed the ban on medical use of marijuana-- a re-thinking of drug policy has been underway in Canada for some time. The arrest statistics are enough to illuminate the difference: Whereas, according to the [Center for Drug Abuse], a total of 25,000 people were arrested in Canada in 1999 for marijuana possession, the figures provided for the US by the [Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, i.e. NORML] were 24 times as high, i.e. over 600,000 arrests. Yet the US population is only eight times as large as that of Canada. Political discussion of complete legalization The Supreme Court of Canada is preparing to consider a case in which it is argued that criminal prosecution for possession and consumption of marijuana is unconstitutional, because the drug presents no significant threat to health. Justice Minister Anne McLellan, from the governing Liberal party, is also of the opinion that this issue is in need of review. She says she is "quite open" to a debate over legalization. And Health Minister Rock says that the time for a "free and open discussion" has arrived. A parliamentary committee, established by all the political parties together, is currently looking into the question of a general decriminalization of marijuana. The social-democratically inclined NDP and Bloc Quebecois parties have already called for treating marijuana offenses as simple misdemeanors. 47 percent of Canadians for full legalization A recent poll shows 47 percent of Canadians in favor of full legalization. And even the head of the Conservatives ( PC ), Joe Clark, recently argued that it makes no sense for someone to be blocked from studying law or medicine because of a past marijuana conviction. The Canadian television network CBC estimates that about 600,000 Canadians currently have such a conviction on their records.
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