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January 20, 2011
“I get high with a little help from my friends,” croons Prime Minister Stephen
Harper in his annual outpouring of camaraderie. But Carl Anderson of Kamloops is
not feeling the love from Harper’s government. When Health Canada failed to
renew his licence to grow medical marijuana, he was left high and dry. Without a
licence he is vulnerable to arrest and Anderson’s prescription means nothing.
He can’t rely on the government to send the annual licence on time. And if he
doesn’t get the licence on time, he could be arrested for possession of
marijuana.
The government’s failure to deliver makes a criminal out of Anderson. As soon as
his licence expires, his garden transforms from being a legal source of medicine
to a grow-op.
It’s no way to run a pharmacy. If only the government would comply with its own
rules under Health Canada’s Marihuana (sic) Medical Access Regulations. What the
federal government says and what it does are two different things. Health Canada
says they will deliver the annual license within 10 weeks of receiving an
application but that’s rare. Its website boasts that it has “restored the
standard processing time of eight to 10 weeks for complete applications.”
Police are not supposed to know what an individual’s licencing status is
except as part of an ongoing investigation. However, in a small town, word
gets around and police get to know when a licence has expired. Not only do
legal growers suffer with being arrested; they face the humiliation of
police driving up to their front door, confiscating equipment, and hustling
them off to the police station while the neighbours look on. To add expense
to insult, growers have the added cost of starting up production again and
doing without pain-relieving medicine while the crop grows.
If only it were true. Anderson’s situation is not unusual, says lawyer Kirk
Tousaw, who represents many legal marijuana users. He says that it’s a rare day
when a patient’s licence is renewed on time.
Anderson’s severe headaches received in a car accident
don’t apply for a licence to deliver pain; it’s there 24/7. Why should
someone with a chronic condition and a prescription for marijuana have to
apply year after year to grow his own medicine?
The government’s intransigence in failing to issue licences promptly adds to the
suffering of 7,000 Canadians who depend on annual licences. As well as enduring
illness, they have to worry about being arrested.
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The government should look to Oregon for a solution. That state has a
“deeming” provision in its medical marijuana application. Officials have 30
days to issue a licence and if they don’t, the applicant is deemed to have
the licence regardless of whether it’s received or not. The provision has
streamlined things considerably. Oregon has three times the number licensed
growers despite having 1/10th the population of Canada. That’s 30 times
greater the accessibility to medical marijuana.
Marijuana suffers from an image problem. Like comedian Rodney Dangerfield,
marijuana gets no respect. The recreational use of pot has given it a bad
reputation. How can a recreational drug like marijuana have any medicinal
properties?, some might wonder.
Yet it relieves the pain of millions, including MS sufferers. Narcotics
don’t suffer the same image. You can walk into a drug store with a
prescription for powerful opiates like morphine and codeine and it will be
filled within hours.
Like narcotics, marijuana has its drawbacks. Smoking anything, including
marijuana, is not a good idea.
No-smoking zones and second-hand smoke is a problem. Sufferers can’t light
up in hospitals and nursing homes. Marijuana pills are available but their
efficacy has not been clinically tested compared to smoking. Nor has any
testing been done to determine which of marijuana’s dozens of cannabinoids
are most effective for treating specific ailments.
Workers at Health Canada are trying as hard as they can to get the licences
out in a timely fashion. The problem is a lack of political will from the
prime minister who talks tough on crime, but fails to uphold his own
government policies. Greater staffing would solve the problem as would
longer licences for chronic conditions.
The prime minister’s annual musical interludes don’t help those in need.
They need a little help from friends at Health Canada.
David Charbonneau is the owner of Trio Technical.
He can be reached at
dcharbonneau13@shaw.ca
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