Pubdate: Wed, 18 Oct 2006
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2006 The Edmonton Journal
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134

DUTCH MS PATIENT ALLOWED TO GROW POT

THE HAGUE - A Dutch appeals court on Tuesday handed down a landmark 
ruling allowing an MS patient to grow cannabis for his personal use 
to alleviate the symptoms of his illness.

Although it is legal in the Netherlands to sell and consume small 
amounts of cannabis and hashish in licensed cafes, growing and 
trafficking the drugs are banned. Tuesday's ruling is the first time 
Dutch authorities have made an exception on the ban on growing 
cannabis for personal medical use.

The case before the appeals court in Leeuwarden in the northern 
Netherlands involved 51-year old Wim Moorlag, who suffers from 
multiple sclerosis, and his wife Klasiena Hooijer, who grew cannabis. 
They cultivated just enough to meet Moorlag's daily use of three 
grams, namely some 300 grams per harvest every 15 weeks.
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