Pubdate: Sat, 22 Mar 2014
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Kelly Sinoski (with file from Canadian Press)
Page: A10

FIRE SAFETY FEARS AS POT USERS WIN COURT RULING

Temporary injunction means licensed patients can continue to grow
their own supply

Several B. C. municipalities say a last-minute victory for licensed
medical marijuana users allowing them to keep growing the plants in
their own homes will hamstring efforts to keep their cities safe.

Surrey, Delta, Port Coquitlam and Maple Ridge were set to crack down
next month on local medical marijuana patients who refuse to stop home
production and destroy their plants, as required by Health Canada
regulations slated to come into effect on April 1. The rules require
medical marijuana patients to buy their pot from large-scale
commercial facilities instead of growing it themselves.

But they are now in limbo after a Federal Court judge on Friday
granted a temporary injunction to a group of patients who are suing
Ottawa because they are concerned about cost and quality of a
commercially grown product.

Judge Michael Manson ruled that licensed patients can keep growing
their own medical marijuana in their homes while their challenge goes
to trial. The judge also concluded some patients will not be able to
afford marijuana if prices increase as expected.

"I'm pleased ( the court) saw it our way," said Abbotsford lawyer John
Conroy. "They saw that the patients would suffer irreparable harm if
they didn't get the injunction. They can continue producing for
themselves and control the quality."

Under the terms of the injunction, patients who were licensed to grow
marijuana as of Sept. 30 of last year can continue to do so, as well
as anyone approved since that date. Patients will be restricted to
possessing 150 grams of dried marijuana, which is the limit set by the
new regulations, the decision stated.

Conroy said it is not clear how the ruling affects new patients who
need medical marijuana but aren't already approved. They may be forced
to turn to the new commercial market, he said.

Health Canada said it will review the decision in detail and consider
its options, noting it is "committed to the implementation of the
Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations in order to provide
Canadians reasonable access to dried marijuana for medical purposes,
while protecting public safety."

The federal government noted there were fewer than 100 people
authorized to possess marijuana for medical purposes when the program
was introduced in 2001. That number has since grown to close to
40,000, posing "significant unintended consequences on public health,
safety and security," including risks of home invasion, fire and toxic
mould.

Such a mantra is repeatedly parroted by municipalities across B. C.,
which also complain they have no idea where medical marijuana
operations are located because Health Canada won't release a list of
permit-holders, citing privacy concerns.

The prevalence of medical marijuana grow operations in homes puts
cities at risk, Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis said.

In Delta, for instance, one home was found to have three licences and
was growing 900 marijuana plants. Surrey has about 1,000 medical
marijuana grow operations, while there are about 800 each in Mission
and Maple Ridge. Not only are some of these homes rewired, or have
unauthorized alterations, Garis said, but they are riddled with mould.

"Hearing that this injunction has been approved is disappointing
because it prolongs these places that are going to be further
contaminated," he said. "Those places are not safe."

Surrey firefighters know the locations of at least 300 medical
marijuana grow operations, Garis said. Before Friday's ruling, the
city had planned to send out inspectors and charge homeowners $ 5,200
if the plants were not destroyed. The fines would continue to rise
every month, about $ 800 each time, until the grow operation was shut
down.

Port Coquitlam has a similar plan in place, while Maple Ridge, Delta
and Richmond are hammering out their own plans as part of their
crackdowns. "This is not just a simple homegrown problem," Delta Mayor
Lois Jackson said. "These places are a concern to the
neighbourhood."

Neil Boyd, a criminologist at Simon Fraser University, said the court
judgment is a significant rebuke of the government's policies around
medical marijuana.

"It's pretty clear that the way in which the government has gone about
this has really very little to do with science or medicine," said Boyd.

"The people who are growing to suit their own needs have very
legitimate concerns about what expenses might be involved in this new
system and what the different strains will be, and that doesn't seem
to be a big part of what the government is encouraging."

While the injunction application did not specifically target the new
commercial licensing regime, the government argued that allowing some
patients to continue growing their own pot would prevent the fledgling
medical marijuana industry from fully developing.

The Federal Court ruling acknowledges the injunction could affect the
commercial market, but it says the impact will be short-lived and
won't be major.

Anton Mattadeen, chief strategic officer of MediJean, which already
has a licence from Health Canada to grow marijuana for research and
development purposes but is expecting a licence to distribute medical
marijuana, said: "We have many interested patients who we will reach
out to once our licence is granted."
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