Pubdate: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC) Copyright: 2012 Nanaimo Daily News Contact: http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608 Author: Darrell Bellaart CRIMINOLOGIST SAYS MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS DON'T GO FAR ENOUGH New medical marijuana access rules don't go far enough, say Nanaimo's medical health officer and a Vancouver Island University criminologist. By March 2014 Health Canada will no longer produce and distribute medical marijuana, or licence patients to access medical pot, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced Sunday. Cannabis sold for $5 a gram through the program is heavily subsidized and the government plans to offload production to authorized suppliers, while making doctors the sole "gatekeepers" to the drug. Having marijuana prescribed by doctors, rather than licensed by Health Canada could eliminate access delays of up to six months for patients. By turning production and distribution over to private companies, Health Canada expects to improve safety by removing illegal pot growing operations from homes. Existing licensing regulations created a loophole for criminals, but "government has created the context for abuse, through its prohibitionist laws," said John Anderson, VIU criminology department chairman. Anderson is also spokesman for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a lobby group that supports cannabis legalization. "The Canadian Medical Association says 400,000 people are now using marijuana without a licence, so there's quite the market out there," Anderson said. Dr. Paul Hasselback, Central Island medical health officer for Vancouver Island Health Authority agrees when Health Canada says the existing model fosters criminal behaviour. Yet many doctors are reluctant to prescribe a drug not rigorously tested, and for which the quantity of active chemicals differs widely from strain to strain. He sees the latest changes another step toward a workable cannabis regulation system. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D