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May 1, 2003 REEFER REMEDY Sickly group battle for medical marijuana By Jason Botchford Toronto Sun Toronto's Terry Parker has been fighting, and winning, marijuana-related court cases since the 1970s and there's no end in sight. "I've already had eight decisions in my favour. There should be a mention of that in the Guinness Book of World Records," Parker said. "I don't see myself ever stopping as long as there is marijuana prohibition. I have a conscience, I am aware of people suffering and I'll find some way to expose the goods here." The goods are marijuana and Parker, who suffers from violent seizures -- a symptom of his epilepsy -- is convinced the smoke is the reason he's alive today. "The only reason I am surviving is because I consume marijuana," Parker said. "It controls what would be devastating daily seizures." CONFUSED HYPOCRISY The landmark court rulings in Parker's favour are part of a foundation of court decisions which have systematically stripped away Canada's marijuana laws, leaving a lot of questions and a need for legislative changes. - In 1997, Judge Patrick Sheppard stayed charges of cultivation and possession of marijuana against Parker after ruling sections of the Controlled Drug and Substance Act (CDSA) are unconstitutional. - In 2000, in a unanimous judgment by Justices Marvin Catzman, Louise Charron and Marc Rosenberg, the court declared the prohibition of marijuana possession in the CDSA of no force and therefore unconstitutional. The court ruled that if Ottawa does not clarify the law within 12 months, the law would be struck down. - In 2003, Ontario court judge Justice Douglas Phillip threw out a marijuana charge in Windsor against a 16-year-old after lawyer Brian McAllister argued in court that, because of the Parker decision, there is effectively no law prohibiting the possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana. Despite these decisions, Parker doesn't think he's made a difference. "There is still prohibition against marijuana, isn't there?" Parker said. "The law should have been changed 50 years ago." Canada's medicinal grass laws are a study in confused hypocrisy. There is no legal way for many of those who have been granted a Section 56 exemption to access marijuana. Licensed personal-grower criteria is difficult to obtain. Doctors are being instructed by their representative associations not to prescribe medical marijuana. Thousands of patients who have applied under Health Canada's Medical Marijuana Access Regulations (MMAR) have been denied. "My Section 56 exemption says I can possess a little bit more than three ounces of pot at any given time, but it doesn't say I can purchase it and it doesn't even say I can smoke it. I have no legal way to access it," said Toronto's Allan Love, a 49-year-old who has HIV and multiple seizure disorders. "I just want what I feel is fair and right: Give me my medicine." Love now buys as much as he can afford at $9 per gram from the Toronto Compassion Centre, a supplier of marijuana for medicinal purposes. A lawsuit launched by medicinal marijuana users is aiming to abolish the federal law against possessing and using pot with a constitutional challenge. "It's going to be a long process and we don't have time to wait. We're the generation making the change but we shouldn't have to die for it," said Stu Chamney, whose wife Marylynne, 37, is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. She suffers from seizures that are controlled by marijuana. The family has spent $100,000 over the past six years on her marijuana medicine which has left them bankrupt. FAILURE IN DEMOCRACY But in a twist, Marylynne and the seven others named in the suit -- chronic pain sufferers -- are not suing the federal government for any money -- just access to safe, affordable marijuana for treatment. "It shows just how principled these people are," said Alan Young, one of the country's crusading pot lawyers. The civil suit demands three remedies: - Strike down Health Canada's Medical Marijuana Access Regulations as too restrictive. - End cannabis prohibition. - Force Health Canada to distribute pot grown by Prairie Plant Systems - the government-contracted firm which runs a grow operation in Flin Flon, Manitoba - to med-pot patients. Noting a new Sun-Leger poll and a string of others showing a vast majority of Canadians want lighter marijuana laws, Young said pot prohibition has been a failure in democracy. "The numbers, in terms of support for marijuana law reforms, have been consistent since 1975," Young said. "There has been a great deal of consensus in the country but without the ongoing litigation, I am not convinced there would be any political will to make changes happen." In another case Young worked on earlier this year, Justice Sydney Lederman declared the current MMAR unconstitutional but gave the government an ultimatum -- fix the regulations or supply the pot itself by July 9. Young is also part of an upcoming Supreme Court case involving convicted pot smokers who claim possession laws are unconstitutional. Seen as a flagship case for marijuana users across Canada who want pot legalized, it has been postponed before in light of the federal government's pending decision to introduce legislation to decriminalize marijuana. Young said he isn't yet convinced this is the year Canada will make changes to marijuana laws. "We've been down this road. If it was something the government was going to deal with, it would have been dealt with by now," Young said. Young said he believes winning in court is the only way to force the government's hand. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ May 1, 2003 Government ganja mined in Flin Flon By FRANK LANDRY Toronto Sun WINNIPEG -- Psssst -- want some government-sanctioned bud? Health Canada officials believe for the first time they've harvested at least two batches of research-grade marijuana from deep within the country's only official pot mine, located in Flin Flon, about 650 km northwest of Winnipeg. Final tests are being done on the cannabis before it's offered to scientists for clinical research trials. "The reality is, a researcher in the near future will not only be able access the product from the United States, but they will be able to access a product made available by Health Canada," said Cindy Cripps-Prawak, director of the country's Office of Cannabis Medical Access. The marijuana grown in Flin Flon is strictly for research purposes. Patients approved by Health Canada to smoke pot must grow their own or have someone else grow it for them, a position that led to a lawsuit launched last year by chronic pain sufferers who are demanding the federal government provide a safe, reliable and affordable supply. Located in an old copper mine hundreds of metres below the surface, the Flin Flon pot mine has produced more than 244 kilograms of hydroponic marijuana since last year. STRICT STANDARDS Most of the pot has not met strict research standards. But it's believed two batches of weed harvested in December 2002 and this past February meet "good manufacturing guidelines" -- a guarantee each plant is grown and processed under identical conditions to ensure consistency. The plants are being tested for qualities such as potency and microbiological content, Cripps-Prawak said. So far, only two clinical trials on pot have been approved in Canada -- both using seeds brought in from the United States. Health Canada has put a call out looking for scientists who want to conduct clinical trials using the local cannabis. Dr. Mark Ware, a leading marijuana researcher in Montreal, said it doesn't really matter where the pot he uses comes from. But he's looking forward to getting a crack at the Canadian supply. "This is a Canadian project. It would be useful to think we could use Canadian product," said Ware, who will be leading a study at the McGill University this year looking at the potential benefits of smoking marijuana to relieve pain. Marijuana's active agent, THC, has been found to relieve pain, nausea and muscle spasms. Dr. Harold Kalant, a pharmacologist at the University of Toronto, said it may be difficult finding scientists who will want the pot. Researchers are staying away from using marijuana in clinical trials for health reasons, he said. "Smoking cannabis is not a recommended way of administering the drug," Kalant said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ May 1, 2003 Drug 'refugees' flee here By Jason Botchford Toronto Sun For Renee Boje, Canada is freedom. Facing charges in the U.S. of conspiracy to cultivate and distribute grass, she fled to Canada five years ago where she has built a blissful life with a husband and a baby. "But I have nightmares that haunt me, nightmares that I will be forced to go back to the U.S.," Boje said. Boje was arrested in California in 1997 for cultivating medical marijuana plants. Initially, her charges were dropped. But in May of 1998, nearly ten months after she was first arrested, Renee's attorney Kenneth Kahn told her the charges against her would most likely be reinstated. ASYLUM He advised her to flee to Canada. "Canada has opened its arms to me," Boje said. "I love the people here. I love the country. I just never want to go back home." On February 9, 2000, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ordered Boje to surrender herself for extradition. If convicted, she faces a minimum sentence of ten years. She is out on bail in Vancouver and is appealing to the public to write to federal Minister of Justice Anne McLellan asking her to intervene. Recently, Woody Harrelson added his support to the campaign. In fighting extradition, Boje is arguing that U.S. prisons have become so brutal that placing her in one for marijuana constitutes punishment that is too harsh by Canadian standards. Boje is one of a growing number of "drug war refugees" who are begging Canada for asylum, asking for something which is rare for citizens of first-world countries: Political refugee status. torontosun