Pubdate: Thu, 24 Jul 2014
Source: Sudbury Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 Osprey Media
Contact: http://www.thesudburystar.com/letters
Website: http://www.thesudburystar.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/608
Author: Carol Mulligan
Page: A1

THE INEQUITY OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The use of medical marijuana is a subject many people don't want to
weigh in on. Neither did I under I heard from Alexander Stewart.

Stewart, 54, has embarked on a hunger strike to draw attention to the
need for better access to medical marijuana for those who have a
licence from Health Canada to purchase it.

Stewart does.

But, as he told me in a visit to his Donovan home, that licence isn't
worth the paper it's printed on.

Stewart was diagnosed with chronic pulmonary obstructive disease
(COPD), specifically emphysema, about 4 1/2 years ago around his 50th
birthday. Until then, he had been working as a millwright all over
Ontario, for the last 10 years at nuclear plants like Darlington,
Pickering and Bruce Mines. He loved his work, was good at it and made
good money.

A pack-a-day smoker Stewart, who never went to a doctor, went in for a
checkup and a lung X-ray, which he had never had.

He hadn't been feeling well, had been dropping from his high school
weight of 145 pounds and X-rays showed emphysema. He was referred to a
lung specialist, but it took him two years to see him.

Stewart's working career came to an end in March 2011 at a mine site
in Matachewan after he caught a flu bug making the rounds at the camp.
After three days in bed, he could barely get up. When he did, he
couldn't breathe. An air ambulance was called and he was flown to
Kirkland Lake hospital.

Last year, Stewart was hospitalized eight times in Sudbury for
flareups of emphysema. He describes them as "horrible, this feeling
inside, you know you're losing your breath and you start to panic ...

"You're told how to breathe, but you can't and you start
hyper-ventilating."

He calls it "the cliff," the point at which he needs an ambulance "or
I'm done."

If he can remain calm and breathe properly, it helps. But "when you
reach that point, you can't."

When Stewart was released from one bout in hospital last September,
his weight had dropped to 106 pounds on his 5-foot-7 frame. He applied
to Health Canada for a licence to purchase medical marijuana and a
B.C. doctor helped him get one that qualifies him to use 10 grams a
day.

He has yet to access marijuana legally.

He has obtained it from friends and relatives who have medical
marijuana licences and, he admits, purchased it illegally on the
street. Stewart also admits to using marijuana recreationally most of
his life.

Now, marijuana gives him an appetite, which helped increase his weight
to 125 pounds. Stewart said he's on a list for a lung transplant, but
only if his weight rises to 129 pounds.

He quit smoking when diagnosed with COPD, so he steeps marijuana in a
tea. It quells anxiety, eases cramps, aches and pain, and boosts his
mood.

Stewart called Tweed Inc., one of the licensed medical marijuana
providers on Health Canada's website, to order medical marijuana after
he received his licence. A representative told him, and The Sudbury
Star confirmed it this week, that "customers" (Stewart calls himself a
patient, not a customer) must go on a waiting list because no product
will be available until the end of August or early September. Tweed
only opened in March, and it hasn't been able to keep up with demand.

A spokesman for Tweed told The Star it sells 25 strains of marijuana,
varying in price from $5-$12 per gram. At the highest rate, that's
$336 an ounce.

"You can go around the corner and buy it off Joe for the same price.
What's up with that?" asks Stewart. (He says marijuana sells on the
street from $200 to $240 an ounce.)

The Tweed sales representative said the company has a "compassionate"
rate with a 20% discount, dropping the price to $4-$9.60 a gram.

A spokeswoman for Health Canada said 21 companies are licensed to
produce medical marijuana, although only 13 are listed on Health
Canada's website. Two Sudbury-area companies are applying to grow
medical marijuana, but neither is approved.

There is no limit on what medical marijuana producers can charge for
the marijuana they produce. Stewart calls them "legal drug dealers.
That's all they are."

Stewart said the federal government's marijuana laws discriminate
against people who can't afford the steep prices being charged for
medical marijuana.

On a disability pension, his wife, Sara, 55, has quit her job as a
personal support worker to help care for him and she earns a very
small pension.

They have about $500 a month for food and other necessities after
their mortgage and other bills are paid.

Stewart, whose weight has fallen to 117 pounds, said he's going on a
hunger strike to make a point.

"I want marijuana to be free for people who desperately need it and
can't afford to purchase it because it helps so many people."

Whether you agree with him or not about the merits of medical
marijuana, it's hard to argue with one point he makes.

"If you're rich and sick, you can use that stuff that helps you. If
you're poor and sick, you don't."

Stewart said he's tired of the fight to get a "medicine" he is now
legally entitled to obtain, if only he could afford it.

"I'm tired of it. I'm sick and tired of it. I feel like giving up is
what it is. I don't know what else to do ... I just want to make a
statement."

Stewart insists he's proceeding with the hunger strike, which isn't a
hardship because he has no appetite anyway.

"I'm scared as heck. I don't know what else to do."

He knows there are other people in Canada, Ontario, in Sudbury, who
are in the same boat he is in, and he would like to hear from them.

He wants them to email him at Ideally, Stewart would like to receive free medical marijuana for
those who need it or have the price reduced so people on disability
pensions and those on low incomes can afford it.

"I just feel like I'm backed into a corner now. I have a feeling I
have no choice. I want to get something going with people in Canada
who are in the same position as I am and I know there's lots of people
that are.

"And if we get together and fight for this, maybe we can make some
changes."
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