cannabisnews.com: Pot Appeal Given Up Pot Appeal Given Up Posted by CN Staff on March 12, 2003 at 06:55:08 PT By The Canadian Press Source: Edmonton Sun Halifax -- A federal inmate suffering rapid weight loss and chronic pain is no longer appealing one judge's refusal to hear arguments on his right to smoke pot behind bars, but he may try another court. "I hereby give notice, that I, Michael Ronald Patriquen, the appellant, abandon the appeal herein," Patriquen wrote in a brief document filed at the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. The appeal was to have been heard April 1. In an interview yesterday from Westmorland Institution in New Brunswick, the Nova Scotia Marijuana Party founder said that since Corrections Canada has forbidden him from accessing his legally prescribed marijuana while in prison, the door has now opened for him to fight in the Federal Court of Canada. Patriquen, of Middle Sackville, N.S., has hired British Columbia lawyer John Conroy, an expert in cannabis law and penal law. He is serving six years in prison for conspiring to possess marijuana in Nova Scotia and conspiring to traffic in marijuana in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in 1999 and 2000. Last September, Justice Suzanne Hood of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruled that she had no jurisdiction to hear his arguments because it is a civil court matter. Patriquen suffered from chronic neck pain as a result of a 1999 car accident and is among a select group of Canadians licensed to use marijuana for medicinal purposes. Armed with two federal licences to grow and smoke marijuana, Patriquen inhaled up to five grams of pot daily before he was jailed. Without the joints, he said he's wasting away with nausea from untreated pain. "This has been going on for six months and I'm very weak from it," he said. "As of (Monday), I had lost 39 pounds because of my inability to eat since the time of my sentencing on Sept. 10." At sentencing, Patriquen weighed 202 pounds. But now he says he feels like a cripple. "I'm hoping I'll be given access to my medicine so I don't die, because I really don't have a lot of weight left to lose," he said. Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB) Published: Wednesday, March 12, 2003 Copyright: 2003 Canoe Limited PartnershipContact: sun.letters ccinet.ab.ca Website: http://www.fyiedmonton.com/htdocs/edmsun.shtmlRelated Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmFederal Inmate Fights To Smoke Medicinal Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15681.shtmlJudge Rules Against Man Who Wants Pot in Prisonhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14068.shtmlN.S. Man Argues To Receive Marijuana in Jailhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14007.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by afterburner on March 12, 2003 at 18:44:15 PT: Get Up, Stand Up. Stand Up for your Right. Latest poll results:Should people in jail be allowed to smoke marijuana for medicinal reasons?Yes 290 44% No 370 56% Total 660 http://www.herald.ns.ca/ ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by afterburner on March 12, 2003 at 11:03:29 PT: BTW: The Poll Is Going Up Should people in jail be allowed to smoke marijuana for medicinal reasons?Yes 152 36% No 276 64% Total 428 [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by afterburner on March 12, 2003 at 10:57:29 PT: Prisoners of War Are Treated Better Than Citizens. Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War http://193.194.138.190/html/menu3/b/91.htmexcerpt: 1. Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons: (a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; (b) Taking of hostages; (c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment; (d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples. 2. The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for. An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict. The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the present Convention. The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal status of the Parties to the conflict.Considering that the federal courts of Canada have mandated that the federal government must provide through legislation legal access to medical cannabis, and considering that international drug prohibition is referred to as the "War on Drugs," the Government of Canada is on thin ice by allowing the Ministry of Corrections to withhold medicine required by Michael Patriquen, which might be further considered to be "cruel treatment and torture." Surely our own citizens deserve at least the treatment accorded prisoners of war as specified by the Geneva Convention.ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by puff_tuff on March 12, 2003 at 10:40:30 PT POLL Halifax Herald PollHere are the results so far of our informal poll:Should people in jail be allowed to smoke marijuana for medicinal reasons?Yes 146 35% No 272 65% Total 418 http://www.herald.ns.ca/ [ Post Comment ] Post Comment