cannabisnews.com: Rules Relaxed on Medicinal Marijuana





Rules Relaxed on Medicinal Marijuana
Posted by FoM on April 07, 2001 at 08:32:35 PT
By Peter O'Neil, Vancouver Sun 
Source: Vancouver Sun
The Canadian government on Friday unveiled regulations to allow more sick Canadians to use marijuana and more healthy Canadians to grow it for them. The government has scheduled the regulations to take effect this summer. The new regime puts the onus principally on doctors, rather than Health Minister Allan Rock's office, to decide whether marijuana could ease patient suffering. The minister has granted, since 1999, more than 200 exemptions from criminal prosecution to ill Canadians who can prove they need to smoke marijuana to deal with diseases like AIDS and cancer. 
An Ontario court last year struck down Canada's anti-possession law as a violation of the rights of sick Canadians. The judge gave the government a year to broaden and loosen its laws; Friday's announcement was a response to that ruling and deadline. Two B.C. compassion clubs that provide pot to sick people praised Friday's announcement, although they complained that the rules remain far too strict. Some of the major changes include: - Sick people can designate someone else to supply their pot, though licensed growers cannot have criminal records and can supply to no more than three people. - Three categories have been established under which Canadians can seek their physician's support to consume or grow marijuana. The first involves terminal diseases like cancer or AIDS, where the person has no more than a year to live. People must have their doctor send Health Canada an application stating, among other things, that all conventional methods to deal with symptoms of terminal diseases have been considered, and that marijuana was deemed as the recommended option and its use outweighs other risks. The second involves serious medical conditions like multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, epilepsy, or severe arthritis. The burden becomes more onerous because in this situation the patient must get a medical specialist in that particular field to fill out the application. The third category is deliberately vague and refers only to conditions "other than" categories one and two. This category requires two specialists to apply on behalf of the patient. Phillipe Lucas of the Vancouver Island Compassion Club, who has been consulted by the government, said he believes this latter category would relate to problems ranging from stress, migraines, bipolar disorder, depression, and chronic pain caused by injuries. At an Ottawa news conference, Health Canada's Dann Michols was asked if the minister would approve permits for people with those illnesses if they fulfilled all the requirements. "If several members of the medical community with their training are prepared to authorize the use of marijuana for a particular purpose then that should be sufficient for us to issue the authorization," he replied. But Hilary Black of the Vancouver Compassion Club said the requirement for specialists will impose enormous burdens on patients and the health-care system because waiting lists are already extremely long. Black said she briefed some of her club's 1,400 members, of whom only 40 have ministerial permits, on Thursday. "They're pretty excited about it," Black said. "Anything that the government does to move towards recognizing and legitimizing cannabis as a medicine alleviates a little bit more of the fear and stigma they live under in their lives." Black and Lucas said it will be extremely difficult for sick Canadians, especially those with terminal illnesses, to find a friend or relative willing or capable of growing pot for them. Most Canadians who are skilled at growing and have a ready supply have criminal records or operate commercial businesses and won't run the risk of obtaining permits to help individuals. Lucas said he expects Health Canada to loosen rules later this year to let compassion clubs become legal distributors. They now operate illegally, and although police generally turn a blind eye, Lucas said he goes to court Monday on a possession charge involving pot he intended to distribute to members. "If we recognize that sick people can't grow for themselves, we'll soon recognize that they can't find someone else to do it for them," said Lucas, who smokes marijuana to deal with nausea and appetite-loss caused by Hepatitis C. Note: Doctors, not bureaucrats, will now judge if pot can ease patient suffering. Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)Author: Peter O'Neil, Vancouver SunPublished: Saturday 7 April 2001 Copyright: The Vancouver Sun 2001Contact: sunletters pacpress.southam.caWebsite: http://www.vancouversun.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Vancouver Compassion Clubhttp://www.thevics.com/The Compassion Clubhttp://www.thecompassionclub.org/Ottawa Unveils Rules for Medical Use of Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9290.shtmlCanada Boost for Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9289.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by MikeEEEEE on April 07, 2001 at 08:53:25 PT
Trend
The trend is your friend.If the anti's have their way there will be 3 million in jail. For what? To protect our children. If that were true they would make a good example by telling the truth, and stop the news media from showing children tramatic horrible stories; if they care really about the future tax payers of Amerika. 
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