Distribution, Police Cited by Addicts Victoria crack cocaine users have been frustrated by police deliberately smashing their pipes, which in many cases have been provided by local health officials, says a recently published study by addictions researchers. Even though the risk of spread of disease such as hepatitis C through shared pipes has not been proven, crack addicts feel safe from disease when they are provided with safe smoking supplies, says the study. They also don't get into as many violent physical confrontations about sharing pipes if they have their own, say the researchers, whose findings are based on interviews with addicts and have been published online in the International Journal of Drug Policy. [continues 418 words]
From a safe injection site in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to Victoria's former troubled needle exchange on Cormorant Street, no aspect of addiction services grabs more headlines than harm reduction. For advocates, harm reduction is a lifesaver and a possible introduction to a better life. It's a non-judgmental contact point where someone struggling with addiction might, along with the health benefit of getting clean needles or crack kits, ask for help to get clean and sober. It's a chance to keep people alive until they are ready for treatment. [continues 474 words]
Lalanya Blue McGraw believes cannabis is slowing her cancer while easing her pain. She's not alone. In B.C., thousands have turned to the drug for relief, despite murky scientific evidence Living with incurable cancer, after a third relapse of Hodgkin's lymphoma, 39-year-old Lalanya Blue McGraw credits the daily use of medical marijuana for allowing her to make the most of what may be borrowed time. "I've been considered terminal for a long time. The cancer is still there, even after all the chemo and two bone marrow transplants. When it gets worse, I can go into a clinical trial with a chemo drug that has not yet been approved in Canada. But until then, I have defied the odds," says the Vancouver resident, a former jazz singer whose voice has been affected by the disease. [continues 1915 words]
Several groups are coming together to organize an event-filled week in hopes of addressing the stigma faced by drug users in Greater Victoria. Anti-Stigma Week (ASW) investigates the harmful effects of stigma which, according to event organizers, "occurs when someone has a certain status that makes them less acceptable in other people's eyes. It is the result of negative attitudes and behaviours towards certain people due to an attribute they possess or be associated with. When stigma obscures the rest of someone's identity, as it often does in the case of people who use drugs, it has a devastating affect. Stigma seriously impacts the well-being of people who use drugs by shaming them and making them feel unwanted. It deters people from seeking out supports, prevents access to housing and health care, and excludes them from participating in our community." [continues 349 words]
You can count on Geoff Young to counter the relatively comfortable consensus among Victoria city councillors on harm reduction. For those following the issue since 2004, Thursday's city council meeting unfolded predictably. New councillor Marianne Alto joined her colleagues' well-rehearsed chorus, urging the Vancouver Island Health Authority to take action. Her motion asked VIHA to create a working group with a mandate to open a fixed-site needle exchange facility, coupled with treatment options for patients and a solid Good Neighbour Agreement to minimize friction with nearby residents. [continues 380 words]
Diane Riportella is in the final stages of Lou Gehrig's Disease. She expects to die soon. The 54-year-old Egg Harbor Township woman says smoking pot "gives me a reprieve from this living nightmare" by suppressing her pain without relying solely on morphine, which leaves her "lifeless." "When I smoke marijuana, I feel normal. I can express myself and be the person I want," she said at a Senate committee hearing last month. Poonam Alaigh, the state health commissioner and a doctor, also says she has seen the value of medicinal marijuana. One patient suffering from severe nerve pain recently confided to her he has been using pot in addition to prescription painkillers and feels remarkably better. [continues 1529 words]
Making Camping Illegal On The Green Won't Solve The Root Of The Problem Every day, in the neighbourhood where I live with my wife and two year-old daughter, people laugh, cry, drink alcohol, take drugs, crap, urinate and vomit. Some fight, some make love, some sell their bodies to pay for unseen addictions and sometimes the police respond to noise complaints or domestic disputes. I don't live on the 900-block of Pandora, so most of the time this human interaction goes unseen and unheard - in my neighbourhood, most people live their lives behind closed doors. [continues 582 words]
It's nearing 10 p.m. on Friday night, and none of the people hanging out in the 900-block of Pandora Avenue know where all the campers have gone. Rose Henry suspects some have spread out to other parks, an option that worries the advocate for the homeless. Away from the 24-hour security along the boulevard, and their community of fellow homeless, people are more vulnerable to attack, Henry said. The recent disappearance of the so-called "tent city" blossoming on Pandora Avenue can be partly attributed to an undercover police operation in late August that resulted in the arrests of nine drug dealers. Roughly three of the campers have been housed by an outreach team. The cold wet weather may also have played a part. [continues 387 words]
Sharing of dirty needles by Victoria's injection-drug users increased substantially after the city's only fixed needle exchange closed in 2008, according to a study by the University of Victoria's Centre for Addictions Research of B.C. And rates of needle sharing - a practice that contributes to the spread of hepatitis C and HIV - have remained significantly higher in Victoria than Vancouver over the past three years, researchers say. "There's more reusing of needles as well. So people are using the same needle over and over again, which poses a number of other health problems like abscesses," said study co-author Andrew Ivsins, a UVic graduate student. [continues 346 words]
Chilliwack is looking at a bylaw to stop licenced medical marijuana growers from growing pot for other licence-holders, "similar" to one introduced recently in Pitt Meadows. Coun. Chuck Stam, who chairs Chilliwack's public safety committee, said abuse of the medical marijuana licensing system is a growing problem here, with several licence-holders "parking" their licences on one property, growing more plants than legally permitted. And Health Canada is not living up to a commitment to inspect the sites to ensure compliance with the rules, he said. [continues 522 words]
City Staff Recommends Exchange Be Run From a VIHA Building Victoria city staff are recommending that any fixed needle exchange be run from a building owned and operated by either the province or the Vancouver Island Health Authority. But harm-reduction advocates, including Coun. Philippe Lucas, say that could be too restrictive and make establishing a location for such a facility all the more difficult. "There's restrictions on just hosting these facilities within VIHA-owned buildings and I think that would limit the ability of local non-profits to deliver some of these services," Lucas said. [continues 499 words]
Victoria city council is not ready to rule out playing landlord to a fixed-site needle exchange facility. "When it comes to the delivery of harm-reducation supplies and services, you need to go where you're going to have the maximum impact," said Coun. Philippe Lucas. That location might be public or private facility, he said. "It doesn't make any sense to be self-limited as to where those services might be." His comments contradict recommendations by city staff. [continues 119 words]
An Esquimalt woman says a local social housing organization is trying to evict her from her home of two-and-a-half years for using cannabis to treat her chronic conditions. Christina Goluch, who suffers from debilitating arthritis and lupus and has Health Canada permission to possess and use medical cannabis, says she is the target of a campaign by the site manager of the Greater Victoria Housing Society's Lions Lodge to rid the building of marijuana smokers, many of whom, says Goluch, are elderly and disabled and consume the drug to treat a variety of maladies. [continues 802 words]
Victoria City Councillor and Vancouver Island Compassion Society founder Philippe Lucas has had his share of life experiences. Lucas was exposed to hepatitis C through the tainted blood supply at age 12, but the condition was only diagnosed in 1995, the same year that his father committed suicide. "Sometimes life makes choices for us, and with the benefit of a little longevity we can see that even the most adverse event or situation can lead to some positive outcomes," says Lucas, whose personal experiences with medical cannabis led him to conduct a number of research projects on this topic over the last 15 years. [continues 436 words]
When Georgia Peschel first heard police had raided CALM, a compassion club in Toronto, her initial panicked reaction was this: "Now where will my son get his marijuana?" For the past three years, Peschel and her 17-year-old have made the hour-long drive into Toronto every two weeks. They would knock on a darkened Queen St. E. storefront, follow a doorman inside, and buy $140 worth of marijuana from the people at CALM, or Cannabis As Living Medicine. The Newmarket-area, church-going family hardly seem the type to frequent drug dens. But Storm Peschel - named for his tendency to "kick up a storm" while in his mother's womb - is no regular kid. [continues 1816 words]
Presentations Could Run Six Hours at Tonight's Meeting A marathon Victoria council meeting is expected tonight as supporters of harm-reduction services for illicit drug users plan to press their case for more services. Some 70 people are hoping to address councillors on initiatives such as establishment of both a fixed needle exchange and a supervised injection site. At five minutes allowed per speaker, that means the presentations could run about six hours. "We're hoping as many people as possible show up [...] to remind city council that they had made some priorities and one of them was harm reduction and we want them to follow through," said Kim Toombs, a spokeswoman for Harm Reduction Victoria. [continues 454 words]
After two years without a fixed needle-exchange site, Victoria can't sit back and wait for health officials to develop an Island-wide distribution model, says Victoria Coun. Philippe Lucas. "There's absolutely no reason and no excuse for us to wait for an Island-wide model to be put in place before this municipality takes action in trying to reduce the spread of disease and improve the public health of our region," Lucas said. The Vancouver Island Health Authority is looking at a number of potential sites to establish an Island-wide distributed needle exchange program. [continues 196 words]
************ 2009 IN REVIEW The Media Awareness Project archived about 14,500 news clippings during 2009. Here is our annual list of the ones most frequently accessed by our users. http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0424.html ************ Making State First in Nation to Allow Judges to Waive Mandatory Minimum Sentences in Drug-Free School Zones http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/pressroom/pressrelease/pr010710.cfm ************ By Daniela Perdomo Why women have signed onto marijuana reform -- and why they could be the movement's game-changers. [continues 444 words]
************ By Paul Armentano The government keeps pushing the BS that pot is addictive and has serious health consequences. And no wonder -- lying about pot is a lucrative business. http://drugsense.org/url/IOWFyqdg ************ Exposing Britain's unholy alliance between alcohol prohibitionists and marijuana reformers By Brendan O'Neill http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/01/dope-lobby ************ By Melinda Tuhus [continues 356 words]
Re: "An unwelcome surprise," Nov. 18-25 Dear Minister Falcon and Dr. Kendall: As members of the Victoria Needle Exchange Advisory Committee to VIHA we were disappointed to receive a letter advising us that the committee is dissolved. This committee mirrored a broad spectrum of interests, as it included representatives from all Victoria community associations, the downtown business community, downtown schools, downtown churches, the Victoria Police Department, the City of Victoria, and needle exchange service providers. While some of us experienced negative consequences from the previous needle exchange, committee members were unanimous in endorsing a Harm Reduction approach and a Distributed Model of providing needle exchange services. [continues 402 words]
Princess Street Off the Hook but VIHA Isn't Giving Up; Infection Rates Have Declined Since the Old One Closed A proposal for a permanent needle exchange on Princess Street near downtown Victoria have been shelved, the Vancouver Island Health Authority announced yesterday. For now, instead of a fixed site for passing out clean needles to drug addicts and users, public health officials will expand distribution through existing services, like public-health or mental-health units. The final number and locations will be determined in coming weeks. Consultations also will begin to see whether non-profit groups, even pharmacies, may be willing to help. [continues 433 words]
Re: Letters, Oct. 29-Nov. 4 I'm proud to say that I've known and worked with Philippe Lucas for years, fighting to bring compassion and justice to Canada's medical cannabis system. I represented Mr. Beren in the constitutional challenge and, after reading Ted Smith's attacks against Philippe felt the need to set the record straight. The VICS membership model and procedures were the subject of, literally, days of cross-examination in the Beren case. Pressed by the Crown, Mr. Lucas spent hours outlining, in excruciating detail, the lengths to which the VICS went to ensure that all of its members had legitimate, physician-supported medical need. Perhaps Mr. Smith thinks this is conservative; he's entitled to his opinion. I call it prudent. And when the dust settled, I think we convinced the court that the VICS and Mr. Beren's motives were pure. That matters. [continues 133 words]
I agree completely with Victoria Coun. Philippe Lucas: We know that cannabis is a safe and effective medicine. We also know that it is generally safe for non-medical use and certainly much safer than legal drugs like tobacco, alcohol and even caffeine. Virtually all of the problems typically associated with cannabis arise because of its prohibited status. A clear majority of Canadians want change. It is heartening that some politicians, like Lucas, are listening to the voters. If elected officials in Ottawa displayed the common sense shown by Lucas, our country would be much better off. Kirk Tousaw Executive director Beyond Prohibition Foundation [end]
The threat to public safety from an unknown number of medical marijuana grow operations in Chilliwack prompted Mayor Sharon Gaetz to write a letter to the federal minister of health asking for a meeting. But the issue has also garnered support from what might be considered an unusual corner. The Vancouver Foresight Society (VFS), a medical marijuana compassion club that promotes the full legalization of marijuana, is in agreement with municipalities and fire departments across B.C. when it comes to growing in residences. [continues 463 words]
The latest Visions magazine featuring a guest editorial by Victoria councillor and medicinal-marijuana activist Philippe Lucas is no stoner's guide to getting high. Instead the magazine, B.C.'s mental health and addictions journal published by B.C. Partners for Mental Health and Addictions, presents an unvarnished view of some of the pros and cons of marijuana use, including some disturbing tales of links between marijuana use and psychosis. "I think the issue is a good balance showing that for some people with medical conditions and particularly with mental-health disorders, cannabis has been incredibly helpful," Lucas said in a recent interview. [continues 301 words]
After 10 Years, Philippe Lucas Leaving Medical-Marijuana Supplier Aside from the pungent odour of fresh marijuana in the air, the Vancouver Island Compassion Society's Cormorant Street office has the feel of any other medical clinic. "I've been doing this for so long I don't even notice it any more," says Philippe Lucas, of the sweet aroma that permeates all four rooms in the office. Lucas is both founder and, for 10 years, executive director of the non-profit society, which sells marijuana to those in medical need. But Lucas, who also serves as a Victoria city councillor, no longer has the time and is now passing the bong, as it were, to Steve Roberts, the society's day manager for the past two years. [continues 884 words]
Nine times in their search for illegal marijuana grow operations, Port Coquitlam city inspectors and fire officials have found something else: legal grow ops licensed for medical reasons. But like illegal ones, they are public health and safety threats says Stephen Gamble, PoCo's fire chief and president of the Fire Chiefs Association of BC. Wiring and building alterations meant none of the nine legal grow ops inspectors found met building code standards, said Gamble, who is calling for the federal government to reveal to cities the locations of licensed pot farms so city inspectors can make sure the operations are safe. [continues 501 words]
Since founding the Vancouver Island Compassion Society 10 years ago, Philippe Lucas has seen changes in the way countries around the world deal with drug users. As recently as August 20, for example, Mexico decriminalized the possession for personal use of substances like marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD, and methamphetamine. Five days later, Argentina's Supreme Court declared unconstitutional legislation that punishes possessors of marijuana with prison sentences ranging from one month to two years. Elsewhere in Latin America, according to Lucas, a first-term Victoria city councillor, countries like Colombia and Peru have set aside policies that regard drug use as a criminal offence. [continues 813 words]
Mayor says city should have the right to know who's growing marijuana for medicinal reasons There may be as many as 100 medical marijuana growers in Chilliwack, but despite the threat to public safety posed by some of these operations, there is no way for the city, the RCMP or the fire department to find out where they are located. Mayor Sharon Gaetz brought the issue up after it was raised at the recent Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Vancouver at which the Fire Chiefs' Association of B.C. tried to garner support from the municipal leaders. [continues 615 words]
Re: “MP abstains on C-15,” June 11-17 As the executive director of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society and a Graduate Research Fellow for the Centre for Addictions Research of B.C., I was honoured to be one of the researchers and experts invited by the House of Commons Justice Committee to comment on Bill C-15, the Conservative Party’s mandatory minimums drug bill. As I told the committee, Parliament will not pass another bill that has a greater potential to harm Canadians than this failed and expensive approach to reducing substance use. For evidence of this threat to human rights and public health we only need to look south of our border. Mandatory minimum sentences have made our American neighbour the biggest jailer nation in the world, with over 2 million of their citizens behind bars. But I don’t really blame the Conservative Party for this debacle; it would be naive to expect anything but ideological and ill-considered legislation from the Conservatives on complex issues like gay rights, the environment or substance use. However, while the NDP and Bloc Quebecois rallied their troops to strike down this bill, the Liberals sat on their hands, leaving their moral and ethical principles at the doors of Parliament for short-term political gain. [continues 125 words]
Victoria council wants more information on harm-reduction initiatives before taking a stand on the distribution of free crackpipes in the city. Coun. Philippe Lucas had asked council to endorse the distribution of crackpipe kits to reduce the spread of hepatitis C, from which he suffers. If Victoria council supported the distribution, the Vancouver Island Health Authority would provide funding for the kits. But several of Lucas's council colleagues expressed concern yesterday about taking any one initiative in isolation -- potentially derailing other efforts, such as finding a fixed needle-exchange site. [continues 398 words]
Get caught passing a joint to a 17-year-old and you'll spend two years in the slammer, says a federal bill only weeks from becoming law. Bill C-15, introduced last March in the House of Commons, calls for mandatory minimum sentencing on drug crimes, removing a judge's power of discretion. "It absolutely will not and cannot achieve its goals, and everyone knows that," said Kirk Tousaw, executive director of the Vancouver-based Beyond Prohibition foundation. "Drug consumption and drug-related crime seem to be unaffected, in any measurable way, by severe (mandatory minimum sentencing)," reads a 2002 report commissioned by the Canadian Department of Justice. [continues 1081 words]
Vancouver Island Health Authority is looking for community support to distribute free crack kits. In 2007, the health authority was pressured by Nanaimo council and former mayor Gary Korpan to halt distribution of free crack pipes in the city's downtown. Since then, the authority commited to consult all Island communities before proceeding with its harm reduction program. Now in the midst of meeting with Victoria and Esquimalt, VIHA hopes to get the municipalities on side and get the ball rolling. [continues 420 words]
People are talking these days about things no one usually talks about, and they are doing it very publicly. Jody Paterson wrote a brilliant plea for sanity in our attitude toward sex trade workers and their murderers (May 22). Philippe Lucas told fellow Victoria city councillors they should support the distribution of crack pipes (May 23). And for some time, many voices have demanded the Vancouver Island Health Authority reinstate the fixed site needle exchanges they shut down one year ago. [continues 136 words]
A Victoria councillor wants the city to distribute free crackpipes. Philippe Lucas, who contracted hepatitis C 27 years ago through a tainted blood transfusion, argued last week the kits could reduce the spread of the infectious disease. "I hate the idea of anyone at all having to deal with the hepatitis C that I've dealt with when the spread is entirely preventable in terms of drug use," he told fellow councillors. Lucas said about 70 per cent of the city's intravenous drug users have hep C, which is easily spread. [continues 93 words]
A Victoria councillor is pushing for the distribution of free crack pipes in the city. Philippe Lucas is telling fellow councillors that crack pipe kits are meant to reduce the spread of hepatitis C, a condition with which he's afflicted. "I hate the idea of anyone at all having to deal with the hep C that I've dealt with when the spread is entirely preventable in terms of drug use." [continues 436 words]
By Hendrik de Pagter Re: Martin pushes softer pot law, April 2 Good for local MP Keith Martin trying yet again, via a private member's bill, to reduce the horrific damage done by the war on drugs. Fines for possession of a small amount of marijuana, instead of criminal charges, is a step in the right direction. Victoria city councillor Philippe Lucas offers a more sensible option, the legalization and regulation of marijuana, just as alcohol and tobacco products are legal and regulated, generating tax revenue but not depriving adults of the right to consume what are well-known to be dangerous drugs ( nicotine and ethyl alcohol ) with serious impact on informed individuals and our health system. [continues 122 words]
Keith Martin wants the federal government to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. The Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca MP will submit a private member's bill in the House of Commons today that recommends fines instead of criminal charges for anyone with less than 30 grams of marijuana or two marijuana plants. Decriminalizing simple possession will sever ties between casual drug users and organized crime, Martin said in an interview yesterday. "If a person is growing a couple of their own plants, they won't have to go out and purchase it from illegal sources, which are usually linked to crime gangs and illegal grow-ops." [continues 236 words]
Re: Martin pushes softer pot law, April 2 Good for local MP Keith Martin trying yet again, via a private member's bill, to reduce the horrific damage done by the war on drugs. Fines for possession of a small amount of marijuana, instead of criminal charges, is a step in the right direction. Victoria city councillor Philippe Lucas offers a more sensible option, the legalization and regulation of marijuana, just as alcohol and tobacco products are legal and regulated, generating tax revenue but not depriving adults of the right to consume what are well-known to be dangerous drugs (nicotine and ethyl alcohol) with serious impact on informed individuals and our health system. [continues 112 words]
Compassion clubs in Victoria may be one step closer to escaping legal uncertainty 4after a ruling in the British Colombia Supreme Court declared sections of the national marijuana program to be unconstitutional. The decision by Justice Marvyn Koenigsbergn to review the laws surrounding marijuana distribution is good news for Philippe Lucas and Ted Smith, who operate medicinal marijuana dispensaries in B.C. The law currently limits designated suppliers to distribute medicinal marijuana to one patient. Lucas and Smith hope this changes. [continues 407 words]
The quasi-legal status of Victoria's compassion clubs may have come a step closer to resolution this week after a B.C. Supreme Court ruling declared parts of Canada's current medicinal marijuana laws unconstitutional. The law, which forbids any supplier from distributing medical marijuana to more than one patient, has forced the non-profit clubs into operating illegally, despite the consent of Victoria's police. The judge has given Health Canada one year to review the laws and make it easier for purveyors of medicinal marijuana, both inside and outside the law, to keep patients supplied. [continues 456 words]
Review Of Laws Could Mean Changes To System The quasi-legal status of Victoria's compassion clubs may have come a step closer to resolution this week after a B.C. Supreme Court ruling declared parts of Canada's current medicinal marijuana laws unconstitutional. The law, which forbids any supplier from distributing medical marijuana to more than one patient, has forced the non-profit clubs into operating illegally, despite the consent of Victoria's police. The judge has given Health Canada one year to review the laws and make it easier for purveyors of medicinal marijuana, both inside and outside the law, to keep patients supplied. [continues 455 words]
Vancouver's Addicts Could Be Pushed Onto Victoria Streets: Fortin Some local politicians are concerned a police crackdown in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside could push more of the poor and drug-addicted onto Victoria and Nanaimo city streets. "We are worried in the lead-up to the Olympics that there will be displacement. So we're looking forward to the opportunity to meet with Vancouver's mayor and council to discuss this," Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin said recently. Fortin said cities must deal with social disorder, but if it's done in isolation, it can have unintended consequences. [continues 404 words]
Dear friends and supporters, It is with great pleasure that I announce the successful outcome of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society (VICS) Constitutional challenge of Health Canada's medical cannabis program and practice. On Monday, February 2nd 2009 Justice Koenigsberg ruled that the federal regulations limiting the number of people who could grow cannabis in one location, and the rules limiting the number of patients that a producer could grow for were arbitrary, served no public interest, and were therefore unconstitutional. She stayed her decision for one year in order to allow the federal government to amend their medical cannabis regulations to reflect her ruling. [continues 446 words]
************ http://www.mapinc.org/lte_awards/lte_gold.htm ************ An online conversation with author April Witt and Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo at WashingtonPost.com http://drugsense.org/url/lg3Bo8dT ************ By Radley Balko at www.theagitator.com http://www.theagitator.com/2009/02/01/a-letter-id-like-to-see-but-wont/ ************ JURY NULLIFCATION IN ILLINOIS? By Pete Guither at www.drugwarrant.com [continues 569 words]
Strict limits on the production and distribution of medical marijuana are unconstitutional, B.C. court determines Another court decision, ruling that restrictions on the sale and production of medicinal marijuana in Canada are unconstitutional, is seen as "one more small step forward" by those who provide marijuana to sick people in Nanaimo. Richard Payne, a member of the Mid-Island Compassion Society that set up in Nanaimo last year to provide medicinal marijuana, applauds the decision of B.C. Supreme Court Justice Marvyn Koenigsberg. On Monday she gave Ottawa one year to fix the medical-marijuana access regulations so compassion clubs or producers can get together and run a common marijuana-growing operation. [continues 454 words]
So, bits of Canada's medical marijuana rules were ruled unconstitutional yesterday, except Ottawa was given a year to fix them, and the Victoria guy charged with growing the dope was convicted, except he got off. Huh? Saying the B.C. Supreme Court decision makes Canada's medical marijuana laws clearer is like saying cowboy boots make Danny DeVito taller -- really, it's just a matter of degree. Justice Marvyn Koenigsberg, sitting in Vancouver, struck down Health Canada regulations that say a licensed marijuana grower may only supply a single client and that bar more than three growers from pooling their resources. Her ruling echoed a 2008 federal court decision that tossed out the one-grower, one-client regulation; coincidentally, Ottawa lost its appeal of that decision yesterday. [continues 553 words]
The Canadian government's crumbling monopoly on the production and distribution of medical cannabis was dealt another blow Monday with a B.C. Supreme Court decision that effectively exonerated a grower who supplied the Vancouver Island Compassion Society with the good grass. The charges against Mathew Beren stemmed from a 2004 RCMP raid on a VICS facility in Sooke. The compassion society and its lawyer, Kirk Tousaw, argued that since the federal government was failing to provide citizens with a safe and secure supply of medicinal marijuana, compassion societies and their growers fulfilled a critical service. [continues 312 words]
Compassion clubs and other medical marijuana distributors should have restrictions on them lifted, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled on Monday. To the delight of a packed courtroom in Vancouver, Justice Marvyn Koenigsberg said federal regulations that limit people's access to medicinal cannabis are "constitutionally invalid" and gave the government a year to amend the rules. The current rules under the federal medical marijuana program limit a supplier from providing marijuana to more than one patient and restrict growers from sharing a common space. [continues 168 words]
