Pubdate: Sat, 13 Jun 2015 Source: National Post (Canada) Copyright: 2015 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286 Page: A14 A WIN FOR COMMON SENSE On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down an appeal by the federal government to maintain the nonsensical status quo with regards to medical marijuana. The rules had stipulated that medical marijuana could only be possessed and consumed in its dried form, which meant chronically ill users were essentially restricted to smoking it. This made no sense whatsoever; a terminal lung cancer patient with a license to use medical marijuana, for example, should not be limited to lighting up. Yet under Sections 4 and 5 of the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, the creation and consumption of medical marijuana in alternate forms - in tablets, ointments, in baked goods or extracts - was prohibited. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court called out the restriction for what it was: "arbitrary." The Court ruled that the denial of legal alternative forms of consumption violated the guarantee of life, liberty and security of the person under Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by forcing ill users to choose between "a legal but inadequate treatment and an illegal but more effective choice." Limiting people to smoking medical marijuana, the Court added, "subjects the person to the risk of cancer and bronchial infections associated with smoking dry marijuana." This is just basic common sense: permitting the use of a substance but stipulating the specific way it must be used, especially when that method is arguably more physically harmful than all other ways, is simply asinine policy. Indeed, the government has not, and did not, offer a sound explanation as to why those who are licensed to possess and use medical marijuana should be forced to smoke it, rather than consume it in teas, baked goods, pills or extracts. So the Supreme Court ruled against it, and rightly so. This case dates back to 2009, when Owen Smith, a baker for the Cannabis Buyers Club of Canada, was arrested and charged after police found marijuana-infused cookies and oils in his Victoria apartment. Smith challenged the law and was acquitted at trial, and the decision was held up last summer at the B.C. Court of Appeal. The Court gave the federal government a year to change the law; it instead challenged the decision at the Supreme Court, which ended up supporting the trial judge's conclusion. The decision should have a profound impact on the lives of Canadians suffering with chronic pain or disease, including the families of children with severe epileptic disorders. Last year, Postmedia reported on the story of six-year-old Liam McKnight, who suffered with epilepsy so severe he was experiencing dozens of seizures per day. Though Liam and his family had tried dozens of medications, none of them seemed to help. Then Liam's mom gave him cannabis oil, and he was seizure-free after 10 days. Unfortunately, because of the rules on marijuana consumption, Health Canada effectively said the kindergartener, if continuing to legally take marijuana, would have to smoke it. That shouldn't have to happen anymore. Indeed, the Supreme Court's decision is a win for families like Liam's, and a win for common sense. Ill Canadians should not be told they can use marijuana and at the same time arbitrarily restricted as to the method of consumption. We're glad the Supreme Court recognized that, even if the federal government did not. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom