cannabisnews.com: Senators Pay a Visit To The Compassion Club Senators Pay a Visit To The Compassion Club Posted by FoM on November 09, 2001 at 09:21:55 PT By Glenn Bohn, Vancouver Sun Source: Vancouver Sun The sweet smell of marijuana smoke and freshly-cut buds greeted four Canadian senators Thursday when they entered the Vancouver Compassion Club on Commercial Drive.Hilary Black, the founder of the non-profit society which has been dispensing the illegal drug from local offices and storefronts for more than four years, said that, to her knowledge, it was the first time elected official -- city, provincial or federal -- has walked through those doors. City licence inspectors come in "to give us a hard time," said Black, but "this is a first positive visit with any kind of politician."For the first half hour, the Senate special committee on illegal drugs had a private tour and discussion with staff members at The Wellness Centre, a $100,000-a-year clinic subsidized by marijuana sales. Behind a waiting room filled with tropical house plants -- species not mentioned by the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act -- there are private rooms where people are given alternatives therapies like acupuncture, Reiki and Bach flower remedies. Club members pay anywhere from $3 to $30 per visit, but club policy is that no one is turned away for lack of funds.Senators got their first whiff of B.C. Bud at The Distribution Centre, the adjacent storefront at 2995 Commercial where the society says it gives out "medicinal cannabis" to people with serious illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, cancer and HIV/AIDs.The Compassion Club invited The Vancouver Sun and the CBC to accompany the senators on that portion of the tour, which lasted about 40 minutes.The visitors grinned when they saw "today's menu" posted on the wall inside.It featured different strains of marijuana. with names like Time Warp, Purple Pine Berry and Skunk #1, selling for between $7 and $10 gram, enough for about three joints.Marijuana-based "Weedies" cookies were selling for $2 apiece, or $5 for three.B.C. Senator Pat Carney didn't sample any of the wares there, but she did ask a Compassion Club staffer a series of questions about how marijuana is dispensed, or whether someone has overdosed. (He told her that users usually sleep it off if they use too much, and it shouldn't be combined with other drugs.)"You can't major in cannabis," Carney noted later. "How do you ensure that the people delivering this service are qualified to assess their customers, or aid them if they get into difficulties?"Carney said she has fibromyalgia, a condition that mostly afflicts women, causing symptoms that include muscle aches, fatigue and sleeping problems. It's one of the ailments that cannabis advocates say can be treated with marijuana. Carney gave herself some wriggle room when a reporter asked whether she was considering using marijuana."Not at the present time," the former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister replied. "I'm not saying I wouldn't do it, but right now I self-medicate through a very active aquatic program, which works for me."She also wouldn't say whether she wanted marijuana compassion clubs legalized -- "that's what we're here to investigate" -- but did note the Vancouver Compassion Club has operated for more than four years, "if not under the protection of the police, at least with the knowledge and assistance of police."Each month, the club distributes about 18 kilograms or 40 pounds of marijuana .On Wednesday, the commanding officer of the Vancouver police department's drug section told the Senate committee that, for all practical purposes, city police have stopped arresting people for possession of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and so-called designer drugs.Inspector Kash Keen also said the federal government should consider removing legal sanctions against marijuana.At the Commercial Drive storefront, there was no attempt to hide the big bags of marijuana leaf on the dispensing counter, or the living marijuana plants in pots. No one was seen smoking marijuana during the politicians' visit, but the air purifying machine near the front window didn't mask the smell of smoked marijuana emanating from the Smoking Room, where a 1960s-style black light poster graces the wall. Tobacco smoking is prohibited in that room, but marijuana smoking is permitted for club members, 28 staff members and "primary care givers" who help roll or hold a joint.The senators listened quietly as marijuana users -- including one woman in a wheelchair with multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy -- but at least one senator didn't approach the illegal drug too closely."I'm not uncomfortable, but it's not an environment I'm used to," said Canadian Alliance Senator Gerry St. Germain, a former RCMP officer who worked in Vancouver in 1966. "In my previous life, it was treated differently."However, St. Germain confirmed that, even in the 1960s, police selectively enforced the law against marijuana possession."Generally, there was an extenuating circumstance -- an unruly situation that went with it," he said.St. Germain said he had no regrets: "My job was to enforce the law. Now, I'm one of the legislators . . ."Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin, who chairs the Senate committee, said the people at the Compassion Club were getting marijuana for medical reasons, and he didn't see any drug trafficking.Nolin said marijuana possession is illegal in Canada "because Parliament decided it is illegal, and its our job to question the laws. Nothing is carved in stone forever."Note: Trip to medical marijuana society part of a look into drug culture. Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)Author: Glenn Bohn, Vancouver Sun Published: Friday, November 09, 2001Copyright: The Vancouver Sun 2001Contact: sunletters pacpress.southam.caWebsite: http://www.vancouversun.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:FTE's Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmThe Compassion Clubhttp://www.thecompassionclub.org/Marijuana Tea Houses for the Ill Open in B.C.http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11248.shtmlSick People Can Breathe Easier in New Pot Venuehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11238.shtml END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #12 posted by i420 on November 09, 2001 at 20:44:18 PT Yep yep Yes the times are a changin' [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by null on November 09, 2001 at 20:07:22 PT green party Good news for the Green party indeed. :) Although I am a Libertarian, I am going to very seriously consider marking my vote for the green party in the next national election. Nader at least has a snowman's chance in Hell of winning. Most third parties wouldn't even fair as well as a snowflake let alone a snowball... [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by mayan on November 09, 2001 at 17:04:05 PT Go Canada! At least some Canadian politicians are open minded. Here in the U.S. it appears our only hope is to oust the Repubicrats! Green Party recognized! http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011108/el/recognizing_greens_5.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by grassmike on November 09, 2001 at 13:21:13 PT: It is almost 4:20PM It is good news everywhere except here in the US. My rice and beans will be done soon and at 4:20 I will be putting the fuse to my electricity. Today's cutoff is for Tom and Rollie. I have not forgotten them. It is warm so the heat from the rice and beans will keep me warm until 8PM when I cut the electricity back on. I disconnected my water heater yesterday. That is for the people that suffered from the closing of the LA Cannabis Resource Center. I will think of them when I was with my washcloth. The strike is on. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by kaptinemo on November 09, 2001 at 12:52:03 PT: YOU-WILL-BE-ASSIMILATED...Not! The fictional Borg had their own Achilles’ Heels; our pols have the same kind of problem. They are all front, no substance. All noise - but no signal. All force...but no ability to reason. They are like old-style Zeppelins using hydrogen; they look very impressive...but go up like a torch when you light a fire to them.The only reason why (besides a reliance upon brutal, naked force) US prohibs have been able to keep the charade going as long as they have is ignorance. Plain old garden-variety ignorance on the part of the US electorate. Ignorance the antis have assiduously cultivated using our tax dollars to pay for the dissemination of disinformation. Which is becoming increasingly difficult in the Age of the Internet. Which is why the antis have always tried to destroy it.There will always be a group that will most definitely not be assimilated. And that terrifies the would be cultural proctors to no end. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by E_Johnson on November 09, 2001 at 12:51:04 PT Senator Carney, give it a try, it could work well Carney said she has fibromyalgia, a condition that mostly afflicts women, causing symptoms that include muscle aches, fatigue and sleeping problems. It's one of the ailments that cannabis advocates say can be treated with marijuana. Carney gave herself some wriggle room when a reporter asked whether she was considering using marijuana."Not at the present time," the former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister replied. "I'm not saying I wouldn't do it, but right now I self-medicate through a very active aquatic program, which works for me."Yes exercise can help woith fibromyalgia, very definitely.But I have experienced that marijuana makes exercise more effective so that you have to do less of it to get the same benefit. And then marijuana adds a benefit that exceeds what exercise alone can do, as well.And I think that this is true because cannabinoids effect the deep sleep cycle, the delta wave phase of sleep where the tiny microtears in muscles from daytime use get repaired and soothed every night.Research done with anti-THC (the cannabinoid receptor blocker that is alleged to block the marijuana "high") shows this. When they gave anti-THC to rodents, they became unable to maintain deep sleep, their delta wave phase of sleep was severely disrupted by anti-THC.It makes me wonder whether fibromnyalgia itself might be caused by some kind of abnormality in the normal endocannabinoid system.If fibromyalgia is caused by abnormal endocannabinoid regulation of the deep phase of sleep, then treating it with marijuana is exactly the right thing to do.She should give it a try. Imagine a normal life free from constant muscle and joint pain. I had stopped being able to imagine that at one point. But then marijuana made it a reality.For which I am still deeply grateful. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by MikeEEEEE on November 09, 2001 at 11:56:40 PT Good! Compassion could be the kind of thing that's addictive, especially in Canada. Just think if that happened in the US.Right now US senators wouldn't think of stepping inside a compassion club, instead they send goon squads. Like they say in Star Trek, resistance is futile. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by null on November 09, 2001 at 11:03:38 PT Lott & Daschle I am trying to imagine either of our Senate majority leaders touring a medical marijuana clinic. This scene is hard to form in my mind! The fact that parliament members are even there speaks volumes for Canada. I found this article very encouraging.p.s. sorry to hear about the phone line FoM. I am quite sure that you have more than enough brownie points stored up to merit some slack for technical difficulties. ;) [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by herbdoc215 on November 09, 2001 at 10:59:08 PT: It's on the move here now! You can feel it in BC now, the cracks are widening everyday in their dam of lies. We are so close to winning that I can taste it. Everyday since I have fled to Canada and started working with Marc we have gotten some sort of positive media attention here. The questions from the reporters are getting better and opinions are galvinizing in our favour. The hunger for information is intense now in Canada for medical utility of cannabis, it seems to be anologous to where we were in California in '97. The time has come for the truth. Steven Tuck [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Jeaneous on November 09, 2001 at 10:53:07 PT: Great Idea I sure wish that we had Senators that we could trust enough to invite them in to see just what the Compassionate Clubs do for people. Think I will write and tell them to educate themselves with a tour....without the FBI or ATF! [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on November 09, 2001 at 09:58:07 PT Just a Note My computer phone line is dead and I'm using our normal phone line to post news. This is slowing me up so please forgive me if I appear to be running behind normal because I will be! I need to keep the phone line open so I must disconnect for a while now but I shall return! I love technology I keep telling myself over and over and over again! LOL!PS: Great article! Canada you are so intelligent! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by TroutMask on November 09, 2001 at 09:39:58 PT yippy Nolin said marijuana possession is illegal in Canada "because Parliament decided it is illegal, and its our job to question the laws. Nothing is carved in stone forever."Change is in the air!-TM [ Post Comment ] Post Comment