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.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom