Pubdate: Sat, 22 Nov 2008 Source: Toronto Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2008 The Toronto Star Contact: http://www.thestar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456 Author: Rosie DiManno Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) KINDRED APATHY FOR T.O. DOPE CAFE I cannot stand the odour of cannabis. That's probably a good thing, for an addictive personality, having a built-in aversion to certain drugs. Also, dope makes me staggeringly stupid. A few years ago I was sent to Amsterdam, the assignment an analysis of Holland's liberal drug laws, at a time when Canada was again looking at loosening our own "soft drugs" legislation. Strictly for the purpose of research, I wandered from one drug cafe to another, sampling the menu: hash oil, slimly rolled joints, laced brownies. It took three days before I could recover enough to write a story. And my notes were illegible. The phone conversations with my editor went something like this: He: "Are you filing today, Rosie?" Me: "Whaa? Huh?" Strictly beer for the rest of my stay, though decent alcohol-only establishments were not so thick on the ground downtown. Yesterday, Amsterdam's mayor announced the city will close almost a fifth of its marijuana cafes to comply with a national ban on having them near schools. In Toronto, I've occasionally been to the Kindred Cafe on Breadalbane St., simply to smoke a cigarette - horrors! - unmolested, up on the patio roof. Bong decor is not my thing, either, and the place was too mellow and laid-back and anachronistically hippie-dippy, a venue of contact inertia. Most chronic dope-smokers of my acquaintance are dull-witted, poor conversationalists and prone to giggling at bad jokes. Harmless, though. The Kindred Cafe - busted in a drug raid Thursday evening - has been particularly popular with registered medical marijuana users, those actually issued with Health Canada cards designating their status. Cafe membership is required and drugs are not allowed to be sold on the premises, though cannabis can be smoked outside, by cardholders. Once, signed into the cafe by an acquaintance in possession of a registered card, I finally got around to asking what his medical condition was, though uncomfortable about prying. Depression, he reluctantly admitted. This was startling. Not to minimize the impact of depression or anything, but if recurrent melancholia is an accepted malady for obtaining otherwise illicit drugs legally, then I should be smoking crack. According to the Health Canada website, there are two categories of people who can apply to possess marijuana for medical purposes: Those being treated for symptoms within the context of compassionate end-of-life care or symptoms associated with specified medical conditions, including severe pain and/or muscle spasms from multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury or disease; severe pain and other symptoms related to cancer, HIV/AIDS infection, arthritis and epileptic seizures. The second category applies to "applicants" who have debilitating symptom(s) resulting from a medical condition other than those outlined above, "if a specialist confirms the diagnosis and that conventional treatments have failed or judged inappropriate to relieve symptoms of the medical condition." While assessment of the applicant's case by a specialist is required, the treating physician, "whether or not a specialist," can sign the medical declaration. At the Kindred Cafe, police allege, medical authorization among patrons had little to do with a lively business. "They were just selling to anybody," Staff Insp. John Tanouye, of the Toronto drug squad, told the Star. "All you had to do was buy a one-day membership, I think for $20." According to police, the cafe was serving drug-laced hot chocolate, milkshakes and baked goods. Cops seized electronic equipment, coffee machines, drug paraphernalia and about $2,000 in cash. Six people were charged (only two taken into custody) with trafficking and possession for the purpose of trafficking. Marijuana activists are up in arms. Or maybe lying on a couch in the basement, watching The Simpsons (reruns) and eating Cheezies. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin