Pubdate: Thu, 03 Apr 2014
Source: Annapolis County Spectator; The (CN NS)
Copyright: 2014 Transcontinental Nova Scotia Media Group inc.
Contact:  http://www.annapoliscountyspectator.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4699
Author: Heather Killen

LAWS COULD FORCE PATIENTS INTO THE ILLEGAL DRUG TRADE: MUMM MEMBER

Cannabis activists have some breathing room before Health Canada
changes the way they can access medical marijuana.

Debbie Stultz-Giffen, of Maritimers Unite for Medical Marijuana
Society, says she is hopeful about a recent court injunction that
grants a temporary reprieve from new laws that would change patients'
access to medical marijuana.

"It's been a rough ride," she said early last week. "From coast to
coast, there's a real sense of relief."

Last year, Health Canada announced it would no longer accept
applications for marijuana production licences from private
individuals. According to the legislation, as of March 31, the
production of marijuana in private dwellings is illegal.

Anyone who requires marijuana for medical purposes must purchase it
directly from a licensed commercial grower. Cannabis activists
challenged this legislation and won licensed patients a temporary reprieve.

Buying time

Stultz-Giffen is hoping the injunction will buy patients time and
force the law on the back burner indefinitely. The last several months
have been a roller coaster ride, she says, bringing back memories of
the bad days when she was classified as a criminal.

In 1999, she remembers how police helicopters routinely buzzed her
house and how the police searched through her house.

"My children were with me, my youngest son wanted to go in the other
room and get a puzzle, but the police officer wouldn't allow it," she
said. "He stood in the doorway with his arms crossed and I was
supposed to act like it was just a normal day."

She added the laws have eased since 1999 when she was first fighting
for her license, but the stigma surrounding medical marijuana
continues and many people treat patients who use marijuana as drug
dealers and criminals.

Wealth Canada?

Stultz-Giffen says forcing patients to buy from commercial growers is
a move that will generate new money for big business and the
government at the expense of chronically ill patients.

"We should change the name from Health Canada to Wealth Canada," she
said. "It's a billion-dollar industry."

Health insurance doesn't cover medical marijuana and patients are
often living on limited incomes, so dollars quickly add up. Had the
injunction failed, Stultz-Giffen says she would have been forced to
buy her marijuana from the black market, or grow it herself illegally.

"We can grow it for pennies a gram, where they charge $2 a gram," she
said. "Chronically ill people have enough to worry about without
wondering how they will keep their homes and families in tact, it's
ridiculous."  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D