cannabisnews.com: Legal Grass Advocates Share in Bitter Harvest Legal Grass Advocates Share in Bitter Harvest Posted by CN Staff on October 07, 2002 at 08:31:16 PT By Scott Tracey, Mercury Staff Source: Guelph Mercury Dundalk -- It's Saturday morning and a small group of people, despite their serious illnesses, have gathered in a country mansion to help its owner harvest his crop. The seven work diligently, pausing occasionally only to step out to the wraparound deck and smoke marijuana cigarettes. The marijuana, which they all consider medicine, has allowed most of them to venture this morning to the 6,000-square-foot Dundalk-area home of Marco Renda, who has become something of an activist. The crop this day is medical-grade marijuana. Several plants have just been brought in from the field, but the people gathered in Renda's living room are clipping plants which have been drying inside. The mood is festive and friendly. The people here are devoted to seeing marijuana at least decriminalized, preferably legalized. Renda, 42, who has battled Hepatitis C for two decades, grows marijuana for his own use, but also shares it with other terribly-ill friends and associates such as Burlington's Alison Myrden, 38. The pair are among eight parties involved in a lawsuit against Health Canada. Myrden, who uses the drug to alleviate the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, including excruciating facial pain, was one of the first Canadians granted a federal exemption to the marijuana possession laws. In a time when many fellow "exemptees" have seen their exemptions expire, Myrden has, so far, managed to maintain hers. Renda qualifies for an exemption, but has not been able to get one. To do so he would have to find two specialists willing to sign a document saying he has tried everything else, but he has not been able to satisfy those conditions. Even if he had an exemption, Renda said he would only legally be able to grow pot for his own use. The owner of a successful marketing company with 17 employees, he vows to continue giving marijuana to those less fortunate. "My neck is on the line here," he admits while rolling a joint in his kitchen Saturday. "What I'm doing is illegal. "I'm going to continue to distribute until the government makes something available so these people don't have to go onto the street." "I've got to have compassion and help out my fellow human beings. I don't care if it's legal or not." Through their lawsuit, the parties hope to force Ottawa to make marijuana available to those legally entitled to it, and to change the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations to make it easier for the sick to get into the programme. They argue currently those granted exemptions have no choice but to grow it themselves, or buy it on the black market. Through its licensed contractor, Prairie Plant Systems, Health Canada has grown a large quantity of marijuana in an abandoned mine shaft in Flin Flon, Man. The federal government has said that marijuana is only to be used in clinical trials and is not intended for distribution to the public. Steve Van de Kemp, 47, another of Renda's guests and a party to the lawsuit, started growing his own pot after feeling his life was in danger every time he bought from street dealers. In 1997 Van de Kemp's house was raided by police and he found himself facing a raft of drug-related charges. The case was before the courts for two years, and in the end Van de Kemp was not only exonerated, but on the government's exempted persons list. His exemption expired in June and he has also been unable to satisfy the government's more stringent qualifications, because of the waiting list for specialists, and a growing unease within the medical community about legal and medical liabilities. "It's a travesty," Van de Kemp says of the situation. "It's perverted that sick people have to get off their death beds and fight the government to use a relatively benign medication." Van de Kemp suffers from an undiagnosed condition which causes extreme anxiety and panic attacks. Like most of those gathered in Renda's home, he used many different medications, each of them bringing their own side effects, until someone suggested he try marijuana. "Voila," he says with a snap of his fingers. "It was over like that." After eight years on disability and another year spent depleting his savings when disability ran out, Van de Kemp recently began working again. As he speaks, Van de Kemp's frustration becomes increasingly obvious. It is a trait he shares with all the other guests. "There's no way in hell they'll beat me," says Guelph's Bob LeDuc, 52, his fingers busily snipping at the plant in his hands. "I'm not giving up." LeDuc is another federal exemptee whose exemption has expired. He suffers from epilepsy, irritable bowel syndrome and psoriasis and said marijuana alleviates the symptoms of all three. Without a safe and reliable source of pot, however, he relies on growers such as his host this day. "I've got to have compassion and help out my fellow human beings," Renda says with a shrug. "I don't care if it's legal or not." Note: Man grows marijuana for friends who need the weed to feel better.Source: Guelph Mercury (CN ON)Author: Scott Tracey, Mercury StaffPublished: Monday, October 7, 2002Copyright: 2002 Guelph Mercury Newspapers LimitedContact: editor guelphmercury.comWebsite: http://www.guelphmercury.com/Related Articles & Web Site:The Medical Marijuana Missionhttp://www.themarijuanamission.com/Sick People Have Right to Use Pot, Lawyer Argueshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14186.shtmlPot Advocates Go To Courthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14178.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by p4me on October 07, 2002 at 09:33:03 PT A new canvas for painting prohibition http://www.reuters.com/printerfriendly.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=1540993 - The election for a new President in Brazil was on Sunday. The leftist candidate, Lula, is concerned about some crumbs trickling down to the masses of the 170 million Brazilians. He had 47% of the vote with 76% of the votes counted and the status quo candidate had 24%. A majority of voters is needed and now a final ballot will come in three weeks. This article mentions the $260 billion dollar debt of the ninth largest economy of the world but does not elaborate like in this CounterPunch article dated today that signals the gloom of things to come: http://www.counterpunch.org/rooij1007.html. It is titled, “Brazil: the Party is Nearly Over.” I found the fact that 115 million people cast their electronic ballots very significant. That would have to be about everyone over 18 wouldn’t it?Yellowtimes.org had this article mocking the term, opposition party, for the Democrats: http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=759&mode=thread&order=0. One paragraph would say: “To believe in the Democrats while condemning the Republicans is the ultimate folly committable in these times. To defend them is to betray the very values one implicitly claims to uphold when criticizing the Republicans.” It’s concluding paragraph would say: “Can't you see, America? There is no opposition party at all; the only one I know of is currently being pacified by rubber bullets and stormtroopers.”http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=758&mode=thread&order=0 - The subject of this article titled, ''Who's to blame if there's war in Iraq?'' by Raff Ellis is an awareness attack on the media and contains my paragraph of the day: "Well, you can blame it on the media. Why? It goes all the way back to the presidential election. It was basically a race between two guys whom you couldn't tell apart unless you administered an IQ test. Half the country was upset because of Bill Clinton's sexual peccadilloes and decided to take it out on Gore. How did they take it out on him you ask? Well, a lot of them didn't vote, a few voted for Nader or Buchanan and some cast their ballots for Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Several wrote in for Goofy but these were later decided to be votes for Bush."http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=203 This is an article talking of the 15,000 protesters against AttackIraq in Central Park on Sunday. If this is not cause for a show of rebellion by our youth, are we not in deeper troubles than we now imagine. Come on young people and show us some rebellion. It is your turn and our only chance to stop the fascist has to have your help. Fight it now or fight it later. Just look at the entrenchment of the drug war zealots and figure out that now is the time.http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14229 This is the article that made me open Word for a State of Our Climate presentation. It is about a 28-year-old reporter writing about his arrest and the unbelievable treatment by the police 10 days ago in Warshington. It was shocking to tell of the arrest of innocent people and it seems they were all innocent because there was no order and no chance to leave the park. One paragraph reads, “Before I knew it, these huge officers from Chicago, Boston, DC, and federal Park Police where pulling out their batons and whacking people. The protestors chanted "Shame! Shame! Shame!" in response. Then it got really ugly and scary. The police yelled, "There are only two ways you are going to get out of here -- by volunteering to be arrested, or by being arrested by force."The reporter was arrested and says this “"You are not allowed to hold me for more than 12 hours without giving me food, it's against the law," I told the officer standing over me. He laughed in my face and said "Don't talk to me about the law." – Unreal isn’t it? We are being destroyed by the blissfully ignorant. Maybe if we attack their bliss their ignorance will no longer serve them. At some point everyone is going to catch on to the severe problems of a controlled media. It is way past overdue.DAD-D,1,2 [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo MD on October 07, 2002 at 08:36:59 PT: I Wish I wish that I could write recommendations for these deserving people.Hopefully, their constitutional challenges will succeed, and access will be eased for Canadians. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment