Pubdate: Mon, 09 Aug 2004
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2004 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Greg McArthur, with files from Dave Rogers
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)

EX-MOUNTIE AMONG FRUSTRATED SMITHS FALLS MARIJUANA CLIENTS

Twenty years ago, Cam Cavaco would have been busting teenagers for smoking 
marijuana.

Now, his wife puts it in his spaghetti sauce.

The former Mountie is one of 30 people, stricken with illness, who were 
banking on a new company in Smiths Falls to deliver them Ontario-grown 
medicinal marijuana.

When Smiths Falls police raided the headquarters of Carasel Harvest Supply 
Corp. and took its 221 marijuana plants on Wednesday, they shut down an 
illegal grow operation, but they also shut off the chronically ill from a 
reliable pain reliever.

"It's a shame," said Mr. Cavaco, who uses a wheelchair to get around 
because of his multiple sclerosis. "My supply gets depleted all the time."

They're ironic words for a man who once worked security detail for prime 
minister Brian Mulroney and governor general Jeanne Sauve -- a one-time 
RCMP officer who took part in drug raids in North Vancouver and issued 
tickets to teenage potheads.

But a painful, crippling disease can make you think about drugs a whole lot 
differently, he says.

"You're obligated to enforce the law," he said of his days in a police 
cruiser. "Now, you shake your head.

"I understand the Smiths Falls police department and why they were 
obligated to do what they did. Their hands were tied," Mr. Cavaco said from

his suburban townhouse in Burlington.

Ron Marzel, a lawyer for many of the seriously ill people that had been 
hoping to use the Smiths Falls operation, is to present a motion in federal 
court in Toronto this month to get the Carasel hearing moved up.

Carasel submitted applications to grow medical marijuana and 20 clients 
applied to Health Canada to get it from the former Canadian Tire store in 
March. Mr. Mazel said Health Canada has been unreasonably delaying approval 
of the grow operation.

Smiths Falls police seized the firm's marijuana plants, with an estimated 
street value of approximately $220,000, the largest drug seizure the town's 
police had made.

Smiths Falls police knew of Carasel's intentions for the site, but they had 
not been told operations were under way.

Mr. Cavaco, 41, was one of the people who applied to Health Canada for the 
right to buy his marijuana from Smiths Falls.

He became a regular marijuana smoker about four years ago, after he was 
diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which causes him routine muscle spasms 
and has started stealing the sight from his right eye.

After graduating from McMaster University, he took a job with the RCMP, 
hoping to serve the public and help make the country a more secure place.

At Expo 86 in Vancouver, he swept buildings for bombs and possible 
terrorist activity during a royal visit by Prince Charles and Diana.

As an RCMP officer he had sworn an oath, but he was never entirely 
comfortable with criminalizing marijuana smokers.

Four years ago, long after he left the force, he kept stubbing the big toe 
on his left foot. His balance got worse. When the doctor diagnosed him with 
multiple sclerosis, he was put on painkillers and muscle relaxants.

It was a natural medicine, one he read about on the Internet, that made him 
feel somewhat normal again.

Getting his hands on marijuana was problematic. He didn't know any drug 
dealers and he hadn't smoked a joint since he was a teenager.

He started ordering from the B.C. Compassion Club Society, a group that 
distributes to patients across the country. Eventually, he received his 
Health Canada licence to smoke marijuana.

Now, he smokes two or three joints a day -- sometimes five, if the spasms 
are particularly bad. His wife, Marnie, has become a marijuana master in 
the kitchen, adding it to cookies, brownies and sauces.

There are a few negative side-effects, he acknowledges: His townhouse 
stinks from the smoke and he naps more.

But, his body doesn't hurt all the time and he was hoping Carasel would 
make sure there were no lapses in his supply. Carasel was supposed to ship 
to the Toronto organization Cannabis As Living Medicine.

"It's hard for me to keep doing it with the B.C. people," he said. "It's 
totally a logistical thing. They're in Vancouver and I'm in Burlington."
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager