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UVSS HEMPOLOGY 101 CLUB LESSON #10 : HEALTH CANADA + THE MMAR - Part 1 |
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Before the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act came into effect in 1996 there were several examples of lower court decisions that recognized the use of cannabis as medicine. The medical necessity argument is available in Canada because the 1961 U.N. Single Convention on Narcotics allows for the medicinal use of illegal drugs and their derivatives. In 1999, Jim Wakeford, a person with AIDS, was granted the first Exemption #56 from the CDSA to use cannabis as medicine by a Superior Court judge in Ontario. Others began receiving these exemptions from court or the Minister responsible for Health Canada. Then on July 31, 2000, lawyer Alan Young was successful in another case, this time with Terry Parker, who suffers from epilepsy. Alan used convincing medical evidence from Terry’s case to prove that the government had to not only allow the use of cannabis as medicine, but must also provide access to the plant. The Court of Appeal of Ontario gave Health Canada one year to establish a plan. The original Medical Marijuana Access Regulations that gave legal permits to possess and grow cannabis were long, complicated documents which required doctors to state, amongst other things, that every other possible medication and treatment had been tried on the patient before recommending cannabis. Health Canada, under the keen leadership of Alan Rock, contracted Prairie Plant Systems to produce cannabis for research and distribution to people who had a license to use the herb. The cannabis grown by PPS is said to have many problems, including a low percentage of THC. It is probably the only medicine ever grown in an abandoned, heavily contaminated mine. The cannabis is crushed, stalk, leaf and bud, into a powder before it is irradiated. The cost of $150 per ounce is reasonable if you are buying on the street, though the quality is quite low. At first, those with an Application To Possess (ATP) did not have access to PPS product. These original regulations were struck down as unconstitutional in the case of Hitzig et al. on Oct 7, 2003, where Alan represented several individuals, including a co-founder of the Toronto Compassion Center, Warren Hitzig. This ruling forced Health Canada to start providing PPS cannabis to patients and change several sections of the MMAR that made it difficult for patients to obtain doctor’s signatures and illegal to pay a designated grower any compensation for producing medicine. Though every court decision about a legitimate compassion club has resulted with acquittals, only a few representatives from these clubs have ever been asked for input into the MMAR and there appears to be no plan to ever license clubs. In the year 2007, Health Canada plans upon phasing out the licenses to grow cannabis, forcing patients to purchase their medicine from PPS. Many are expected to resist this move and fight the government in court.
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The PPS product is of such poor quality that, as of Sept 1, 2006 only 301 patients had purchased it, with many returning the cannabis and refusing to pay for it. Of the 1492 with ATP’s, 1061 also have licenses to grow or have a designated grower, though only 231 have asked for government seeds. In March 2006, Victoria’s Mayor and City Council wrote a letter to Health Canada stating that the MMAR were not adequate and that the program needed review because it put seriously ill people at risk. In Sept 2006, the federal government announced that it had cut more spending upon medical cannabis research. Moses Zaimner’s company, CANNASAT, now owns 40% of PPS.
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| International Hempology 101
Society www.hempology.ca |
Cannabis Buyers' Clubs of Canada www.cbc-canada.ca |
