Source: Carillon (CN SN Edu) Pubdate: 29 Jan 1998 Website: http://ursu.uregina.ca/~carillon/ Address: Rm. 227 Riddell Centre, University Of Regina, Regina, Sk. Can. S4S 0A2 Contact: 2002, The Carillon Fax: (306)-586-7422 Authors: Kendra Leslie Gaede and Tricia Ann Kuss THE BATTLE FOR LEGALIZATION IN CANADA The Canadian Battle To Legalize Hemp For Medicinal Purposes: As recently as December 1997 in Ottawa, a group of doctors and lawyers made a groundbreaking application to Health Canada to allow an AIDS patient to legally use marijuana as medicine. The application was made under the Health Canada special access program, which allows doctors to request immediate approval of drugs in an emergency situation, even if these drugs are not authorized under the Food and Drug Act. Through this process, the drugs can be approved within twenty-four hours in an emergency, or two to three days, providing there is medical evidence proving the drug helps the patient. Jean Charles Pariseau, the AIDS patients for whom the application was made, had to take approximately thirty pills a day to control his AIDS and help him eat food. None of the pills had any effect. Pariseau tried marijuana on the advice of a friend, and his weight shot up from eighty-two pounds to one hundred pounds. His prognosis improved from three months to three years to live. "It's a joke. Greed and the desire to take drugs are two separate things. If you want to separate the two, the thing you do is make drugs legal. It's the obvious solution. Accept the reality that people do want to change their consciousness, and make an effort to make safer, healthier drugs." -Jerry Garcia If the application is approved this will set a precedent for any chronically ill person who has the support of a doctor and someone who will grow marijuana for them. It was under the same program that drugs such as cocaine, heroin and morphine were first approved for medicinal use. It can take as long as a decade to get drug approval under the usual Health Canada procedures. The application on behalf of Pariseau was made the same day the Crown Attorney's office announced it would appeal a lower court's ruling that allowed Terry Parker, a forty year old epileptic in Toronto, to keep smoking marijuana to control his epilepsy. Judge Patrick Sheppard ruled that police had to return the marijuana they seized from Parker in 1996. "It does not accord to fundamental justice to criminalize a person suffering a serious chronic medical disability for possessing a vitally helpful substance not legally available to him in Canada," said Sheppard during the trial. Sheppard also said that to deny Mr. Parker of the substance would be to interfere with his right to life, liberty and security of person. He continued, saying that liberty includes the right of the individual to make decisions of personal importance, and that health is surely one of them. "Health is fundamental to the life and security of each person," said Sheppard, adding that he was satisfied that marijuana is not addictive and does not lead to criminal behavior, and rarely leads to an individual's trying harder drugs. The legal battles are being echoed in the House of Commons. "I think that this is an issue that is gaining some momentum within Canadian society. Therefore, I don't think we as Canadians should be afraid to discuss the issue," Canada's Justice Minister Anne McLellan said in regards to the possibility of a national debate on whether marijuana should be legalized for medicinal purposes. Hedy Fry, Secretary of State for Multiculturalism, said doctors can now legally prescribe THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in pill form. "If it is shown very clearly that THC is effective as a therapeutic drug in treating terminally ill patients' nausea, why are we looking at restricting it to only one mode of ingestion, the synthetic pill? We don't do that with any other drug," sai Fry, who is also a Vancouver doctor. The Justice Minister feels that the issue implicates moral and ethical dimensions, and that it is something Canadians need to talk about. "I think it's healthy that they're starting to," said McLellan, adding that the government "shouldn't presume we have the answer." An Angus Reid poll of 1,515 Canadians conducted in the last week of October found 83% of respondents supported the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Buying Clubs: Many of those who suffer with Multiple Sclerosis, Glaucoma, AIDS, and Cancer, say smoking pot eases their symptoms. Many don't want to grow their own marijuana or use drug dealers; however, there could be other alternatives. For example, a group called CALM (Cannabis As Legitimate Medicine) in Toronto provided marijuana for those who needed it for medicinal purposes. With a letter of diagnosis, and a fifteen dollar membership fee, people with legitimate health concerns (from AIDS wasting syndrome to cancer to glaucoma) could receive cheap, clean marijuana in an office-like environment. "Absolutely it should be legalized. When we look at the two drugs that are killing the most people, cigarettes and alcohol, that marijuana should be illegal is ridiculous. Fifty percent of the people in jails are in on marijuana charges. That's ridiculous." -Dr. David Suzuki Groups such as these are based on the California "cannabis buying clubs," made even more possible through Bill 215 in California, making marijuana use legal for certain illnesses. Unfortunately, CALM in Toronto closed its doors in July, leaving sufferers who are not connected to a marijuana subculture in the lurch and forced to use the black market to obtain marijuana. On the other hand, The Compassionate Club in Vancouver has expanded its facilities. More than one hundred clients regularly come by to buy pot, discuss alternative treatments and talk to fellow smokers. And the clientele is growing. The club receives fifteen calls a day from across Canada who want to use the services. Excerpts from the Effects of Marijuana on Consciousness by Arthur C. Hastings: A marijuana high usually lasts two to three hours, during which a wide range of effects may occur, varying both in intensity and quality. The usual, most noticeable, effect is intensification of sensation and increased clarity of perception. Visually, colors are brighter, scenes have more depth, patterns are more evident, and figure-ground relations are both more distinct and more easily reversible. Other sense modalities do not have the variety of visual stimuli, but all seem to be intensified. Sounds become more distinct, with the user aware of sounds he/she otherwise might not have noticed. Music, recorded and live, is heard with increased fidelity and dimension, as though there were less distance between the source and the listener. Taste and smell are also enhanced under marijuana. The spice rack is a treasure of sensation, and food develops a rich variety of tastes. "Marijuana decreases short-term memory, interferes with coordination, causes lung cancer. (And rots the brain and moral values.)" Fact: Cannabis is one of the best anti-nausea drugs and increases appetite and general well-being. Also stimulates visual centers in the brain. I have gotten so many excellent images from cannabis. I used nothing else in my salad days and "quelle accomplishments!" (And "What coupling!" as an admiring French critic exclaimed.) A few drags on the green tit and I can see multiple ways out and beyond. So why all this heat on this harmless and rewarding substance?" -William S. Burroughs Another which affects the response is that persons unfamiliar with the marijuana state frequently must "learn" that they are perceiving experience in a different way. That is, someone makes them aware of changed perception by showing them objects, playing music, and calling their attention to the difference in sights and sounds, then they become consciously aware of the perceptual changes. This initiation procedure has led sociologist H.S. Becker to suggest that most of the effects of marijuana are learned, not spontaneous. The user's internal psychological needs will also influence his response. A fear of being overwhelmed by too much input will often reduce any changes to only those which the user can cope with or to changes only in certain modes. A fear of losing control over the perception of experience may suppress most of the effects. On the other hand, emotional involvement with some part of the environment may enhance its perception. Internal physical needs also affect the response; for example, hunger may be intensified so the person finds himself ravenous and getting high.