Pubdate: Fri, 12 Jun 2015 Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2015 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/5NyOACet Website: http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531 Referenced: (R. v. Smith): http://mapinc.org/url/d2dzMbjW CANADA SHOULD START RESEARCH For those who smoke pot for fun, maybe Thursday's Supreme Court ruling was no more than reason to giggle (not that you need any). For those who rely on medical marijuana, it was a chance to rejoice. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 7-0 against the federal government in a case about medical marijuana. The feds were appealing against a lower court decision that granted medical marijuana users the right to consume the drug in other forms. What that means is, if you need pot to stimulate your appetite as you endure chemotherapy (for example), but you can't imagine smoking it, you can use pot butter or pot honey in your pot tea. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court after police arrested Victoria's Owen Smith of the Cannabis Buyers Club of Canada for possessing 200 pot cookies and pot cooking oils in 2009 (grape seed and olive oils infused with cannabis). The government argued Health Canada should set guidelines around pharmaceuticals, not Supreme Court judges. While that's a valid point, the court took a different approach. Limiting medical marijuana use to dried pot "limits life, liberty and security of the person," the judges said. It places users at risk of jail when they wouldn't face the same threat if they possessed dried bud. Further, it exposes people to other potential medical ailments such as cancer or bronchial infections. Health Minister Rona Ambrose was, as you might expect, furious. She said Health Canada has never put pot through the ringer. She wants testing and standards and doesn't want to send the message to young people that pot is healthy. She's right, of course, and should take this opportunity to encourage Canada to get behind the extensive research around the world about cannabis and its benefits. The globe is saying pot is OK. Ecuador became the first nation on Earth to legalize the drug. We all know what's happening in Colorado and Washington State. Canada needs to drop the act and start the lengthy process to decriminalize marijuana - in all its forms. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt