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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Canada: Problems Over Pot Vern Faulkner Saanich News (CN BC) Wednesday 21 Nov 2001 Eric Young is one of about 520 people across the country legally allowed to use marijuana for medical reasons and he would like nothing better than to be able to spark up his joints in peace. But he claims he can't do that because neighbours in his subsidized housing complex keep harassing him over his use of the drug. Young says smoking pot helps him manage his multiple sclerosis. He has fewer spasms, his mood improves, he sleeps better and his overall health is generally elevated when he uses marijuana. `If I don't smoke marijuana, I get some sharp pains sometimes and I get this overall sense of not feeling right...I have no energy to do anything,' says Young. An exemption from Health Canada allows him to use -- and cultivate -- marijuana. Yet Young says he continues to receive threatening letters in his mailbox from neighbours in his Capital Regional Housing Commission ( CRHC ) housing complex. Most complain that they catch a whiff of marijuana smoke in the hallway. Since cigarette smoking is permitted in the complex, Young can't understand the criticism. `What's the problem with smoke in the hallway?' He asks, noting that the smell of tobacco often hangs heavy in the halls. `Why should there be any difference? I have as much right as any smoker--or more as this is for my health.' As far as Young knows, the ventilation in his building forces air from the hallway into the suites, which makes him wonder how smoke can be leaking out into the halls. `My wife and I have tried to smell ( marijuana smoke ) in the hallway, and we have never smelled it,' Young insists. He adds that whenever he lights up he either smokes outside on his patio or using a fan-ventilated window during inclement weather. He says also that he has purchased an air purifier in an effort to combat odour. He claims the CRHC is trying to force him to seal his front door--at his own expense--and that will compromise air quality in his home. The CRHC would not comment on the matter. `He has the luxury of being able to speak ( to the News ) about his issues, but we can't speak about issues with our tenants--it's against the regulations,' said CRHC manager of operations, Amy Jaarsma. `We are aware of his situation and there are some issues involved with respect to the rights and responsibilities of both the landlord and the tenant. These things take some time to resolve. We're not sure what all the issues are yet, nor are we sure of the solution,' she added. The Vancouver Island Compassion Society ( VICS ) is part of a larger chain of groups advocating the medical use of marijuana, and director Philippe Lucas says that Young's plight is all-too common. `What we're dealing with here is a legal and social prejudice that's going on and it's a matter of some people realizing that this is a medicine,' Lucas asserts. Lucas, who also is legally allowed to use marijuana for medical reasons, suggests that Young is `running across a shallow-minded prejudice against his treatment methods' and that raising public awareness is a key issue for Young and others like him. `It's going to be much tougher for the public to accept a sick man being thrown out of his home for using his medicine than if it is presented as, say, another pot smoker ( smelling ) up the hallways,' Lucas noted. Young says he has tried to make others in the building aware that he uses marijuana for medicinal reasons. He claims he even attempted to put a sign up in his window informing his neighbours of that fact, but the CRHC responded with a letter forcing him to remove the sign or face possible eviction. Young says he has had enough of being maligned over his use of marijuana and he has hired a lawyer in an attempt to prevent further persecution. He is also thinking seriously about lodging a complaint with the BC Human Rights Commission. But Lucas doubts much will change in terms of the kinds of prejudice that Young--and others like him--face, even if a human rights tribunal rules in his favour. `I don't see anything really changing except one way or the other they can't kick him out of his apartment,' Lucas observes. `It is unfortunate that the people involved don't recognize that for him, this is the only way he can get through the day living something close to a normal life,' he concludes.
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