Pubdate: Fri, 04 Apr 2014
Source: Rocky Mountain Goat News, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 The Rocky Mountain Goat
Contact:  http://www.therockymountaingoat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5461

HEALTH CANADA SHIRKING RESPONSIBILITY

There are so many different issues tied up in the story of marijuana,
it can be really confusing. From the debate over whether to
decriminalize or legalize it, to whether it should be used for medical
purposes, and where to put medical grow ops, there are so many complex
sides to the issue.

On CBC last week, I heard a BC resident on a call-in show say that
there must be something inherently wrong with growing marijuana,
because buildings with illegal grow ops are automatically condemned.
Health Canada's recent statement also cites fire and toxic mould
hazards as risks with patients growing their own marijuana. But these
risks are not inherent with growing a plant, or with a properly
regulated growing system, which many medical marijuana patients have
invested in over recent years. Those risks are from growing it
illegally or improperly.

Sure, if you buy a house and close off the windows, augment the
electrical system yourself and start growing a bunch of marijuana, you
might get mould growing in your carpets and insulation, and you might
be at risk of electrical fires. But if you are doing it legally, you
are probably not storing your plants on carpet, and you probably would
have hired a certified electrician to do the electrical work.

The fact that some bureaucrat somewhere decided it was easier to
condemn a building where an illegal grow op had been than to actually
inspect the building to see if there is anything wrong with it - that
doesn't mean there is something wrong with the plant that was grown.
You might have the same issues if you tried to mass produce tomatoes
in your house. But you wouldn't do that, you don't need to hide your
tomatoes, because they are legal.

It bothers me that Health Canada is pointing out it only started the
medical marijuana program in 2001 because the courts directed it to.
It says it does not endorse the use of marijuana, and reminds
Canadians it is not an approved drug or medicine in Canada, even
though the courts said we have a constitutional right to cannabis for
therapeutic purposes.

And it bothers me that the federal government could make this last
minute change to the old medical marijuana regulations to require
patients destroy their medicine, and to require Health Canada to
threaten patients with sharing their medical information with the
police. I am glad the court granted the injunction to let patients
continue to grow and use their marijuana, and I will be watching the
court case with interest.

But what I really wish is that the Canadian and American governments
would make it easier to study cannabis for medical purposes. Our
friend Ed (not his real name) says one of the government's objections
to this injunction was that there is no proof there is any difference
in effectiveness between strains of cannabis. There is lots of
anecdotal proof, but that is not good enough for the government, and
there isn't even enough scientific proof that cannabis is an effective
treatment for anything, because the governments won't ok the tests.

As an example, a researcher at the University of Arizona finally got
the ok last week from the American Public Health Service to study
cannabis on war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Suzanne
Sisley has had the ok from the Food and Drug Administration since 2011
to do a 10-week study on 50 veterans with moderate to severe PTSD
symptoms, using marijuana from the US government's only marijuana
farm. That is a small, relatively straight forward experiment. But she
still needs the ok from the Drug Enforcement Administration. There is
no word yet on how long it will take to get the ok from the DEA.

And really, if the Canadian and American governments are so sure
cannabis is not medicinal, then let the research projects happen. Then
we'll all know.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D