Pubdate: Thu, 30 Aug 2012
Source: Intelligencer, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2012, Osprey Media Group Inc.
Contact: http://www.intelligencer.ca/feedback1/LetterToEditor.aspx
Website: http://www.intelligencer.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2332
Author: Jason Miller

SUPPORTERS SPEAK OUT FOR POT DOC

Supporters of a contentious medical marijuana program are rallying 
behind a Coe Hill-area family practitioner facing medical 
marijuana-related fraud charges across Canada

Dianne Bruce is a vocal advocate for the Health Canada operated 
program and the drug she praises for enabling her to enjoy simple 
pleasures such as getting out of bed in the morning. Without medical 
marijuana she said she would be overcome by a barrage of ailments 
including crippling aches and chronic pains.

Bruce's first hand knowledge of the program is fuelling her 
displeasure about the scrutiny and public backlash being shown to Dr. 
Rob Kamermans since news of his arrest earlier this month.

She worries that Kamerman's ordeal could threaten the program and 
patients like her who depend heavily on daily dosages of marijuana - 
her "medicine" - to function. Bruce credits medical marijuana for 
easing a range of ailments including spinal disc herniation and pancreatist.

Kamermans, 66, was subjected to myriad of restrictive conditions to 
which he and two sureties agreed when he was then granted bail.

His wife and co-accused, Mary Kamermans, 64, also released on strict 
conditions - including reporting to the Bancroft OPP detachment once per week-

The couple was charged in relation to fraudulent endorsement of 
Health Canada's medicinal marijuana documents in Ontario, Nova 
Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and British Columbia, between January 
2011 and April 2012, police said.

Bruce has licences to possess and a permit to produce what's 
designated by Health Canada as medical marijuana. Proof of her 
participation in the program is crucial, somewhat akin to having a 
driver's licence, she said.

"They want to take this program away," she said.

The documents issued by Health Canada details whether the licence 
holder is permit to grow indoor or outdoor, plant limits and the 
amount they can possess. Cobourg resident

"No doctor will want to go near this after what's happened to Dr. 
Kamermans," she said. "We have a medical doctor that has been doing 
the right thing."

Bruce relies on doctors like Kamermans who have been active 
participants in the program. She visited Kamermans about a year ago 
in an attempt to bump up her dosage and said Kamermans should not be 
penalized for travelling to other jurisdictions to care for patients 
seeking his help.

"It's very hard to find doctors who are willing to sign," Bruce said. 
"If other doctors would take care of their patients, he wouldn't be 
as needed as he his."

Inside Bruce's purse is handful of pill bottles containing synthetic 
"pot" in the form of a pill, which Bruce requires a prescription to acquire.

She takes six tablets daily to stem effects of fibromyalgia, a 
syndrome which involves body pains and tenderness in the joints, 
muscles and other soft tissues. Fibromyalgia has also been linked to 
fatigue, sleep problems, headaches. Bruce credits the pills for 
soothing her chronic pain issues.

"I take the pill in the morning and within 20 minutes I can get up 
out of bed," she said.

Debby Smits also attributed her improved mobility and noticeable 
reduction in chronic pain to her consumption of the "synthetic medication."

She said she battles a plethora of ailments, including arthritis. She 
too has a licence that allows her to possess and produce marijuana 
and has made prior visits to Kamermans to seek assistance.

"I was there the day before his office was raided," she said about 
the January raid at Kamermans' Coe Hill office.

Smits said there is a misconception about some patients are misusing 
the product as a drug rather than for legitimate health reasons.

Contrary to public perception, patients like say medical marijuana 
does not provide the euphoria enjoyed by people who use it on a 
recreational basis..

"We don't get high when we use it," she said.

Dr. Kamermans was charged Aug. 15, in Sturgeon Falls while his wife 
Mary - a registered nurse - was charged in Bancroft. The Kamermans 
are scheduled to re-appear in court in Belleville on Sept. 20.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom