cannabisnews.com: Access To Pot Eases Pain and Worries Access To Pot Eases Pain and Worries Posted by CN Staff on July 10, 2003 at 10:37:08 PT By Mary Gordon, Staff Writer Source: Toronto Star Ottawa -- Last September, Russell Barth gave a friend $300 to buy him some marijuana. Barth hates smoking the stuff, but it soothes his the aches in his knees, neck and back that worsen in his wheelchair as it jostles along the sidewalk. Smoked through a small water pipe, pot also calms his anxiety, he says. That night in September, Barth's friend never came back with the pot or his money. His anxiety, however, did return. He could barely sleep or eat for 12 days. Having to resort to the black market for drugs is one of the reasons why advocates of medicinal marijuana like Barth, who has fibromyalgia, want safer access to it.Yesterday, Health Minister Anne McLellan announced an interim policy that will allow the sale of marijuana and seeds to people who qualify under the federal pot program.The announcement came on the day an Ontario court judge had set as the deadline for the federal government to come up with regulations for distributing medical marijuana. The judge ruled Ottawa couldn't logically give sick people permission to use pot without also providing a legal source of supply.The government is appealing the decision, and McLellan hinted that the interim policy could be scrapped if the government wins the appeal."It was never the intention for us to provide product," she said in Edmonton. "What we wanted to do was ... determine whether there is medicinal benefit in relation to the use of marijuana."Staging a protest outside Parliament Hill yesterday, medicinal marijuana advocates, some of whom were smoking joints and holding plants, said the government is being hypocritical. "Appealing the court decision is shameful and something that should be dropped," said NDP MP Libby Davies (Vancouver East), who sat on a parliamentary committee on the non-medical use of drugs. At a press conference, Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, chair of a Senate committee that called for pot to be decriminalized, said the government was acting in bad faith. "The government doesn't do anything but react. Thank goodness for the courts."Organizer Philippe Lucas, who runs the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, said Ottawa should license groups like his to distribute marijuana."We have two systems going on: the legal and ineffective Health Canada program, and the illegal and clearly effective, highly compassionate medical cannabis programs done by societies."Lucas' organization describes itself as a non-profit group that supplies affordable, medical-grade marijuana to patients throughout Vancouver Island.Manitoba-based Prairie Plant Systems Inc.— a company currently contracted by Health Canada to produce marijuana for clinical trials — will supply the marijuana. A packet of 30 seeds will go for $20, and a 30-gram bag of marijuana for $150. The prices cover the production and distribution costs, said Cindy Cripps-Prawak, director-general for the Office of Cannabis Medical Access. The drugs will contain 10 per cent THC, marijuana's active ingredient. Street marijuana concentrations vary from 3 to 16 per cent, Cripps-Prawak said. There are 582 people currently authorized to possess marijuana for medicinal reasons, Cripps-Prawak said, and most are licensed to grow. To qualify, people must meet detailed medical requirements and get the endorsement of a doctor. Barth, sitting on the grass of Parliament Hill with his happy-face jar of marijuana buds, said unless the government can guarantee the pot it supplies will be high-quality, he'll get it elsewhere."I think it's a lie," he said of the program. "It's too little too late, and it's not enough."With files from Canadian PressNote: Federal sale of medical marijuana an interim policy. Users, advocates push for a safe, more dependable source.Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)Author: Mary Gordon, Staff WriterPublished: July 10, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Toronto Star Contact: lettertoed thestar.com Website: http://www.thestar.com/ Related Articles & Web Sites:Vancouver Island Compassion Societyhttp://www.thevics.com/Mommy's Funny Medicine http://www.salvagingelectrons.com/mfm/ Patients Seek Relief On Price of Medical Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16813.shtmlProtesters Slam Move To Sell Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16812.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #6 posted by MOTAVATION on August 26, 2003 at 13:19:38 PT: CMA :)CMA-cannabis medical access. We need that in the states as "the supply and distribution is left to patients" HOSTING AND DESIGN GROUP OF PATIENTS IN CALIFORNIA [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by paulpeterson on July 10, 2003 at 11:57:01 PT ANXIETY It is nice to see someone state that marijuana usage, through a small water pipe, helps with anxiety. The selective filtration of THC (accomplished with water filtration), helps the CBN levels to increase, with lack of thought derangement that would follow with high THC levels.Two years ago I argued with a DEA chemist about this very fact. He said water will NOT filter out THC, which is fat soluble. Then I realized that the water was FIRST filtering out the TARS, and secondarilly the TARS allowed for the removal of the THC. In other words, brown water works better than clean water.Of course, the IM report of 1999 also indicated a strong ant-anxiety component to marijuana. More recently, German researchers proved that marijuana products can help a person to forget traumatic memories, etc. The key is to try to open up the umpleasantries with therapy or talking, then when the idea is fully fleshed out, cannabis can help to extinguish the problem (rather than just burying it further).Is the current "regulatory scheme" helping to reduce anxieties in patients that have to fear getting busted or burned? NO, of course not. Later, Paul [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on July 10, 2003 at 11:12:15 PT Thanks Again JR I'm sure Marc will be good! LOL! [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on July 10, 2003 at 11:07:47 PT Marc free on $500 until 9/25 From the Cannabis Culture webboard: "Marc has gone before the judge and [...] he had to pay a $500 fine and promise to be good and they let him go. He has to be back in court September 25." [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on July 10, 2003 at 11:05:14 PT Thanks JR That was great!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on July 10, 2003 at 10:49:14 PT Winnipeg footage See Marc Emery get busted in Winnipeg: http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2055.html [ Post Comment ] Post Comment