Pubdate: Sat, 13 Jun 2015
Source: Kingston Whig-Standard (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 Sun Media
Contact: http://www.thewhig.com/letters
Website: http://www.thewhig.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/224
Author: Elliot Ferguson
Page: A3
Referenced: (R. v. Smith): http://mapinc.org/url/d2dzMbjW

DECISION PLEASES PATIENT

MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Supreme Court of Canada allows the use of edible
forms of the plant

Medical marijuana users are warming up their ovens after Thursday's
ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The court ruled Thursday that people entitled to use marijuana for
medical reasons can now have edible forms of the drug, such as pot
brownies or cookies, not just dried leaf to smoke.

The law had limited licensed users to only using dried marijuana and
any other form could lead to criminal charges.

Amber Saccary, 26, has been licensed under Health Canada's Marihuana
for Medical Purposes Regulations ( MMPR) for about a year.

Saccary welcomed the court's decision.

"I think it's the way it was meant to be in the beginning," she said.
"I think pot was never meant to be smoked. I think it was meant to be
eaten. I think it was supposed to be part of the cuisine."

Saccary has lived with scoliosis that caused a 15- degree curve in her
spine between her shoulder blades.

Saccary has used a vaporizer to consume her marijuana but said she
prefers to eat it.

"It's the way I find it affects me the best. I get the best results
out of eating," she said.

"You can eat it in public and people won't even know. You don't have
to put your medicine in people's faces. It's not smelly, it's not
stinky or anything like that," Saccary said.

"It really opens the door to a lot more people to have
it."

The court decision came about after Owen Smith was charged in 2009
with possession and trafficking marijuana while he was the head of the
Cannabis Buyers Club of Canada.

Police seized 211 cannabis cookies and 26 jars of THC-laced massage
oil and lip balm from his Victoria apartment.

A B. C. judge acquitted Smith and the B. C. Court of Appeal also ruled
in his favour, giving the federal government a year to change the law.

Smith argued that the law violated the Charter of Rights and was
unconstitutional for limiting the lawful possession of medical
marijuana to just the dried variety. Th e top court agreed.

Th e decision, released Thursday, says the prohibition to dried forms
"limits liberty and security" as defined in the charter.

"Th e evidence amply supports the trial judge's conclusions that
inhaling marijuana can present health risks and that it is less
effective for some conditions than administration of cannabis
derivatives," the decision states.
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MAP posted-by: Matt