|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
Canada: Protesters Light Into New Fed Pot Rules
ccguide Friday 20 Sep 2002 Pubdate: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2002, Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: Website: http://www.fyiottawa.com/ottsun.shtml Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329 Author: Canadian Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) PROTESTERS LIGHT INTO NEW FED POT RULES TORONTO -- A motley band of seriously-ill people crowded into court yesterday to do battle with the federal government over a scheme to permit the use of medical marijuana they say violates their constitutional rights. The group, whose members have conditions ranging from AIDS and hepatitis C to epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, wants to strike down rules governing medicinal pot, as well as the law that makes possession a crime. "This is about the right to make fundamental personal decisions," Toronto lawyer and longtime cannabis crusader Alan Young told Superior Court Justice Sidney Lederman. "The right to make personal decisions has been called fundamentally deserving of the highest protection." Canada's Medical Marijuana Access Regulations, or MMARs, were supposed to honour previous court decisions by allowing those with serious illnesses to choose marijuana as a means to treat their symptoms. Instead, they're laden with obstacles, Young said. Black-Market Weed The regulations demand medical declarations that few doctors are willing to provide given the legal consequences, he argued. And they make it impossible for a doctor to recommend a dosage, since the drug remains unregulated. Even those who do win a legal exemption -- more than 300 people in Canada are currently permitted by the feds to smoke pot for medical reasons -- are forced to break the law, resorting to black-market weed because the government is dragging its heels on efforts to cultivate a pure supply for clinical trial. There are seven marijuana consumers included in Young's group of applicants, along with a caregiver. If they can't get the regulations thrown out, the group is willing to settle for access to the federal government's stash: Pot grown in a Manitoba mineshaft under a $5.7-million contract for clinical trials. Buying from a dealer can be tricky, applicant Alison Murden complained. "It's nothing but sticks and stems and seeds one day, and it's a whole bag of bud the next," said Murden, who suffers from a host of ailments, including multiple sclerosis. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!