Pubdate: Thu, 25 Feb 2016 Source: London Free Press (CN ON) Copyright: 2016 The London Free Press Contact: http://www.lfpress.com/letters Website: http://www.lfpress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/243 Author: Debora Van Brenk Page: A1 Medical Marijuana COURT STAMPS OUT HOMEGROWN BAN A law that bars medicinal marijuana users from growing their own pot has been snuffed out. The head-spinning court ruling - following laws that disallowed, then allowed and then again banned homegrown - came as welcome news to tens of thousands of patients who legally use pot for relief of chronic pain and disease symptoms. And at least one in the budding industry of licensed producers says he's pleased the Vancouver judge has struck down regulations brought in by the federal Conservatives. The current rules that require people to get a prescription to buy only from licensed growers will remain in place for at least six months until the Liberals can come up with new ones. "The overwhelming consensus is that people don't want it turned over to big pharmacy. They want to grow their own," said Londoner Jeff Oakes, who uses marijuana medicinally. He has tried other medicines, including potent and potentially addictive ones, to control the symptoms and pain of colitis but said only pot works. "It has literally saved my life," he said. A staffer at the Organic Traveller store in London, Oakes said customers tell him they pay $12 to $16 a gram for approved, greenhouse-grown, poor-quality marijuana, when the street value of homegrown is $10 a gram or less. If people have the capability of producing their own medicine, and more cheaply, he said, "Why, in a free and democratic society, can't we do that?" As many as 40,000 Canadians have prescriptions for medicinal marijuana. The estimate is the industry has potential to grow tenfold in 10 years, said George Smitherman, a former Ontario cabinet minister who now is a partner in Alta Vista Ventures. The company has a letter of intent to buy a licensed Niagara marijuana producer, plans to develop a producer in Burlington and is looking at buying an operation in London. "I think, in the long term, this (ruling) is terrific," Smitherman said, likening the market to giving people a choice of making their own wine or buying it from a producer with expertise in the field. He said the industry needs "clear and consistent regulation," in place of the current patchwork of Canadian rules. "The people who have a right to use medical marijuana should have a right to grow it on their own," and those who grow and dispense medicinal marijuana should have the opportunity to do so with coherent rules that replace the current inconsistent ones, he said. Ronan Levy, who operates 10 Canadian Cannabis Clinics in Ontario, including one in London, said he was surprised by the ruling. "Millions (of dollars) if not billions, have been invested in this," Levy said. He said "an entire industry" has been built around a political decision to require patients to buy from licensed producers. Homegrown can lead to quality and safety problems, an issue the rules did "a decent job" of managing, he said. Ultimately, though, the clinics support whatever is in the best interests of patients and Canadians in general, Levy said. "I think there's a collective sense that cannabis for medical purposes is just starting to be understood." Federal Court Judge Michael Phelan ruled that the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations violated the Charter rights of patients by making them buy only from licensed producers. As he suspended for six months the decision to strike down the law, he also extended a court injunction that allowed people to continue to grow their own if they already held licences. "Accepting that fire, mould, diversion, theft and violence are risks that inherently exist to a certain degree - although I note that these risks were not detailed - this significant restriction punishes those who are able to safely produce by abiding with local laws and taking simple precaution to reduce such risk," Phelan said. Health Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The ruling took place the same day that the Liberals opened a Senate Liberal caucus meeting on regulating and legalizing recreational marijuana. Former Toronto police chief Bill Blair, now an MP, said the current approach to recreational marijuana use is failing and the government will need to eye public health implications as it moves to give pot the legal green light. He has been tapped by the Trudeau government to take a leading role on the file, working closely with the departments of Justice, Public Safety and Health. The first step in the path to legalization will be establishing a provincial, territorial and federal task force to hear from public health, substance abuse and public safety experts. Meanwhile , Shoppers Drug Mart says it is interested in becoming the first drug store to sell marijuana products in its pharmacies if the regulations would allow it. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom