cannabisnews.com: Marijuana as Medicine





Marijuana as Medicine
Posted by CN Staff on October 09, 2002 at 17:28:46 PT
By Luke Fisher
Source: Maclean's Magazine 
In the countryside of Eastern Ontario, as elsewhere, it's harvest time. Produce ranges from corn to . . . bundles of marijuana. Despite the efforts of the Ontario Provincial Police -- who rent a helicopter to scour the region -- much of the illegal crop is now being dried and will soon flood the market. That's great news for me because I suffer from epilepsy. I am one of the 817 Canadians permitted to smoke marijuana for medical reasons. And I have to find the stuff somehow.
It has been an interesting trip for the last couple of years, but there is a problem that brings more lows than highs. I have to spend $500 every month to "score" my prescription across the Ottawa River from an acquaintance named Pierre. To watch the evening news can be bothersome when it carries clips of the hundreds of different strains of cannabis being grown for the government in an old mine in Flin Flon, Man. The seeds, confiscated by police countrywide, prove marijuana's development in Canada. Alas, Health Minister Anne McLellan has said she won't consider releasing any of that marijuana until clinical trials are complete. Marijuana was not my first choice for treatment. Despite an endless series of pills, I suffered from regular seizures for eight years. In 1997, I put my skull under a neurosurgeon's knife. The removal of a brain lobe the size of a thimble was supposed to improve life. But I am among the few whose condition worsened. I began to have more seizures -- sometimes three a day. They happened in places like buses and subway trains and the press gallery of the House of Commons. In 1999, the government announced a program to make cannabis legal for medical purposes only. After chats with my neurologist -- and my wife -- I was given the prescription, because some experts consider cannabis an anti-convulsant. It was a good decision. I have fewer seizures when I regularly smoke marijuana. My wife, who is not a big fan of second-hand smoke of any kind -- or the additional expenditure of thousands of dollars annually -- has also concluded that there is a link. Smoking five joints per day is expensive. I cannot head to a pharmacist with my prescription; I buy my medicine from Pierre in clandestine fashion. Every week I call him, and let him know how many "minutes" I want for our session. Then a friend drives me across the Ottawa River, past the Supreme Court, where marijuana's non-medical future will likely be decided. Within sight of the Peace Tower, I meet Pierre. Because it is Ontario-grown weed purchased in Quebec, I think of it as interprovincial trade. When the bag is in Pierre's hand, it is illegal. When it passes into mine, everything is OK. But I still must pay for it. Last week's Speech from the Throne mentioned a possible decriminalization of marijuana possession. But the delays in dealing with marijuana prove the perception that politicians and bureaucrats move very, very slowly when it suits them. Even the word marijuana caused difficulties at Health Canada; they started with "marihuana", but their Web site now shows that the "h" is slowly being replaced by the more familiar "j." This silliness goes on while those with permits see little effort to establish a system that will provide them with low-cost access to treatment. Most discouraging are suggestions that the previous health minister, Allan Rock, was about to make pot available to those with permits before he was shuffled out of the portfolio last January. I keep wondering whether the Prime Minister (who in 1980 suggested the relaxation of laws concerning marijuana) concluded that Rock's dealings with late Beatle John Lennon in 1969 made him the wrong handler of this file. Perhaps Rock is too liberal for the Liberal party. McLellan, meanwhile, is obviously on a mission to cloud the issue, by contradicting earlier statements and proposals which had led us to believe that a process was about to commence. I should not, and cannot, feel too sorry for myself. Others suffer from more serious ailments and pain -- such as AIDS victims and cancer patients who endure the agony and side effects of their pharmaceutical and chemotherapy treatments. Many find the hunger-inducing effect of marijuana a relief from the queasiness and weight loss they generally face. Then, consider patients disabled by multiple sclerosis. How do they acquire their medicinal stash? Some patients have family and friends who help. But that leads to high stress and potentially uncomfortable episodes with the police. I have not run into anything like that. Health Canada allows me to grow four plants outdoors, which when harvested will last me about three weeks. Meanwhile, an American, Steve Kubby, who seeks refugee status in Canada, is allowed to grow 59 plants at a time and keep 2.6 kilograms in storage. A doctor has said that Kubby needs to smoke 12 grams per day. I am no doctor, but that is an absurd amount (about 20 fat joints daily), even for a man suffering from adrenal gland cancer. When will McLellan allow us other patients a secure, affordable supply of medicinal marijuana? I won't hold my breath. Note: The government lets me legally smoke pot. So why can't I legally buy it?Journalist Luke Fisher lives in Kanata, Ont.Newshawk: puff_tuffSource: Maclean's Magazine (Canada)Author: Luke FisherPublished: October 14, 2002 Copyright: 2001 Maclean Hunter Publishing Ltd.Contact: letters macleans.caWebsite: http://www.macleans.ca/Related Articles & Web Site:Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmThe Flin Flon Flip-Flophttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13958.shtmlHow To Stall On Medicinal Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13823.shtml Blowing Smoke in Vansterdam http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10462.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by p4me on October 09, 2002 at 19:14:50 PT
My note of praise sent to Maclean's Magazine
Well, an article like that would have to come from Canada, because the rich and powerful would blot out anything honest about cannabis in the United States. I think come November 5th when Nevada passes Question 9 allowing for possession and cultivation of marijuana, Canadians will see that the people of the United States are aware of all the government lies and propaganda. We are just having difficulty in deciding which way to push the snowball we have built down the snow-covered mountain. We want to be sure and make a noticeable path through the prohibitionist left standing and get at least one cluster of the freedom-hating brainwashed group of undesirables.I would like to thank you for a straightforward article with more antidotal evidence about marijuana’s miracle properties. I would like to mention that your article appeared at the premier website for the presentation of anything cannabis on the web and you may be interested in viewing the comments it received at http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread14400.shtmlIt may interest you to know that a nurse has put made a compilation of 700 medical studies onto a CD. This will certainly be a major tool in stopping the lies of the United States federal government as it runs into the resistance of the informed citizens in its propaganda efforts. You can read about it and find out how to get it at this link that also ran today at Cannabisnews. http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread14394.shtml I as an American individual would like you to know that some of us have a motto we serve. It goes, “Free Cannabis For Everyone.” I look forward to some more honest journalism from Maclean’s Magazine for the betterment of society for the lovely people of Canada. 
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Comment #1 posted by knox42897 on October 09, 2002 at 18:23:41 PT:
PROTEST RALLY TOMORROW
Who:      NRLE, the campaign to pass Question 9What:     A rally to support Question 9. Assemblywoman Chris Giunchiliangi will             
          be tapping a segment opposite the Federal Drug Czar on John 
          Ralston's show, "day one" on channel 8.When:     THURSDAY, October 10, 2002. 11:00 a.m. PRESS EVENT.
          Supporters please arrive by 10:15 a.m.Where:    Near the Channel 8 Studios. 3228 Channel 8 Drive, the cross streets 
          are paradise and convention center drive. We will meet outside the 
          parking garage and assemble on the sidewalk near the studios. We will 
          validate your parking ticket.Why:      To show our support for Question 9 and courageous spokespeople like 
          Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani. Nevadans DON'T appreciate the 
          Federal Government coming into our state and telling us how to vote on 
          Question 9. This is YOUR chance to be part of this historic effort. Look 
          professional-- the dress is business casual. We will have signs on hand 
          for supports to wave.
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