cannabisnews.com: Rally Set to Support Medicinal Pot Use! 





Rally Set to Support Medicinal Pot Use! 
Posted by FoM on March 10, 1999 at 21:44:02 PT

  Why deny legitimate pain sufferers the relief that comes from marijuana use only because of a suspicion it might lead to some "recreational" abuse by others, argues compassion club member Tim Felger.
Only smoking pot for medical reasons, you say?  That's the pitch of the Fraser Valley Compassion Club whose members say they want to see marijuana legalized for use as a medical treatment.  Next Sunday the group will hold a rally outside the Chilliwack RCMP detachment to protest the seizure of two marijuana joints from a Chilliwack resident who says she suffers from multiple sclerosis.  "It's vitally important these people get the healing they need, but don't put their lives at risk" with synthetic drugs that can have "toxic" side effects, says club member Brian Carlisle.  Quoting bible verses and scientific studies, the two Abbotsford residents say cannabis is a natural health remedy that should be made available under the medical services plan. The legal prohibition against marijuana possession, like the ban on booze in the earlier part of this century, forces pain sufferers into contact with "the criminal element," they say.  The decriminalization of marijuana for medical purposes has found support among some B.C. lawyers, policemen and politicians.  Earlier this month federal Health Minister Allan Rock instructed his department to prepare for clinical trials of the medicinal use of marijuana, a move supported by Reform Party MP Jim Hart.  He says a majority of Canadians support medicinal use of pot under a doctor's supervision, and he has received "tremendous national support" for a private member's bill he wrote urging the decriminalization of marijuana for terminally-ill patients.  According to the Journal of the American Medical Association "the greatest danger in (the) medical use of marijuana is its illegality, which imposes much anxiety and expense on suffering people, forces them to bargain with illicit drug dealers and exposes them to the threat of criminal prosecution."  Fraser Valley MP Chuck Strahl says he supports the medical use of marijuana for reasons of compassion to treat the terminally ill, but the problem is how to regulate its availability.  "It's not a panacea," he says, and cautioned groups like the Fraser Valley compassion club against confusing the decriminalization of marijuana for medical reasons with legalization for recreational purposes.  Mr. Carlisle, who suffers from glaucoma and says he uses marijuana to relieve pain and improve his vision, hopes to set up branches of the compassion club throughout the Fraser Valley.  A non-smoker, he uses a method of burning marijuana that produces only water vapour and the pain-relieving THC chemical without the smoke and tars contained in a marijuana joint.  The Fraser Valley Compassion Club rally is scheduled for 1 p.m. March 14 outside the Chilliwack RCMP detachment.By Robert Freeman Staff Writer © The Chilliwack Progress http://www.theprogress.com/news/1999/0309/0.shtml
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