cannabisnews.com: Passing The Buck Again





Passing The Buck Again
Posted by CN Staff on August 21, 2002 at 16:08:00 PT
Editorial
Source: Ottawa Citizen 
When the book is eventually written on Jean Chrétien's government, medical marijuana will deserve a long, sorry chapter.For the government's first seven years in power, ministers refused even to talk about the issue. It was only when the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in 2000 that it was unconstitutional to force someone to choose between using marijuana for legitimate health reasons and violating a Criminal Code that made no exceptions for medical use of marijuana that the government began to move. It had to, after all, or the whole marijuana law would have been struck down.
A licensing system was set up to give approved patients the right to legally possess marijuana. A supply of the drug was promised, but it never materialized. Instead, some patients grew their own, some turned to non-profit clubs set up by compassionate growers, and many others were forced to buy theirs from street dealers.On Monday, federal Health Minister Anne McLellan told the Canadian Medical Association she is "uncomfortable" with supplying marijuana as medicine until clinical trials are completed using the most rigorous scientific methods. Of course, there's already a great deal of research showing the medical benefits of marijuana, but the research hasn't been done to the most exacting standards. In part, that's because the Liberal government hasn't done the research during its nine years in power.Still Ms. McLellan claimed to be optimistic that things will move along. "I hope this whole issue gets before the Supreme Court of Canada fairly soon so we will have the opportunity to re-argue this case before the Supreme Court so we can get some clarity about what is happening."Yet, if the government seriously wanted the Supreme Court to rule quickly on the issue, it simply had to appeal the original 2000 decision that set off the whole chain of events. But it didn't. And who was the minister of justice who decided not to appeal? Anne McLellan.Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=96B74F10-9E4B-4399-B47D-BE120251325DNewshawk: François C. & puff_tuffSource: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)Published: Wednesday, August 21, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Ottawa CitizenContact: letters thecitizen.southam.caWebsite: http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/Related Articles:Anne 'Stalling' on Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13825.shtmlSquabbles Erupt Over Policyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13824.shtmlHow To Stall On Medicinal Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13823.shtmlMcLellan Denies Plan To Shelve Medicinal Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13819.shtml 
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Comment #7 posted by Dan B on August 22, 2002 at 08:03:27 PT:
Thanks, Canaman
Thanks for the link.And can I just say how refreshing it is to see a couple like Steve and Michelle Kubby reporting the news. Have you noticed how those two look at each other in virtually every broadcast? These two are quite obviously madly in love, and that's one more aspect of their broadcast that makes me proud to have them as spokespersons for cannabis.Thanks, Steve and Michelle.Dan B
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Comment #6 posted by karkulus on August 21, 2002 at 18:55:22 PT
Hey, Mayan!
        Bush's popularity is slipping some ..He needs another war to "Keep it UP " (so to speak) ..at least this with Iraq cuts into his "reefermadnessdrugwarring" time! (although you've got to feel sorry for the innocent civilians who will be murdered as "collateral damage")...Wasn't over 100,000 last time? They don't keep track of that, do they ?...just " war crimes "..not a "massacre"!!
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Comment #5 posted by canaman on August 21, 2002 at 18:36:28 PT
Steve Kubby really laid into Anne McLellan 
 on Pot T.V. News today and if that wasn't enough so did their reporter Phillipe Lucas. Good show (informative)                         http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-1480.html
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Comment #4 posted by mayan on August 21, 2002 at 18:10:20 PT
Another Puppet...
Still Ms. McLellan claimed to be optimistic that things will move along. "I hope this whole issue gets before the Supreme Court of Canada fairly soon so we will have the opportunity to re-argue this case before the Supreme Court so we can get some clarity about what is happening."Yet, if the government seriously wanted the Supreme Court to rule quickly on the issue, it simply had to appeal the original 2000 decision that set off the whole chain of events. But it didn't. And who was the minister of justice who decided not to appeal? Anne McLellan.It looks like Anne McLellan is now just another U.S. puppet. C'mon Canada, break the chains! unrelated -Heavy US Military Deployments Suggest Iraq Invasion Certain:
http://rense.com/general28/heavyUSmilitary.htmRumsfeld steps up Iraq war talk: 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,778180,00.htmlSaudi Arabia:The Sarajevo of the 21st Century -
http://rense.com/general28/saudiarabiatherealtarget.htm
 
New World, Order?
http://www.guerrillanews.com/war_on_terrorism/doc675.html
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Comment #3 posted by canaman on August 21, 2002 at 16:57:35 PT
If it looks like a skunk and smells like a skunk
than it's a politician....ah, I mean skunk.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on August 21, 2002 at 16:48:48 PT
Dr. Russo
Thank You
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo MD on August 21, 2002 at 16:40:03 PT:
The Truth
Here is the rest of the article:From the beginning, the government's strategy on medical marijuana has been delay, delay and delay some more. And then, perhaps, somewhere down the road, the Supreme Court will rule that the sick and dying may not be denied a drug that gives them relief. Then, with court ruling in hand, the government will be able to shrug and say to the opponents of medical marijuana, here and in the United States, we have no choice. It's those darned judges.There's a 20-year-old pattern here. From the inclusion of sexual orientation in the Charter of Rights, to abortion, euthanasia, pornography, same-sex marriage and medical marijuana, many ministers have refused to deal honestly with explosive social issues that cut across party lines. Their first instinct is to dodge and delay. Then they dump the issue on the courts, leaving it to judges to take the heat. Ms. McLellan told the CMA she is "not insensitive to those who feel (marijuana) helps in their final days or acute-illness situations." And yet the effect of the government's delaying tactics is that many more sick and dying human beings will either be denied this small relief or be forced to turn to the black market for it. It is to the government's shame that it would do this to the most vulnerable among us.Now that's journalism. I wish we had more hard hitting editorials such as this that were unafraid to tell the truth and confront politicians with their inadequacies and inconsistencies.
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