Pubdate: Thu, 02 Nov 2006
Source: Charlatan, The (CN ON Edu)
Copyright: 2006 Charlatan Publications Inc.
Contact:  http://www.charlatan.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4343
Author: Elizabeth Howell

PROF GETS VENTILATED ROOM TO SMOKE POT FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS

A York University professor who obtained permission to use medical 
marijuana on campus said he worries the publicity surrounding the 
event will overshadow his record as an award-winning criminologist.

Brian MacLean, who said he has smoked surreptitiously since his 
arrival on campus in the summer, asked York's faculty association 
Sept. 11 to ask the university, on his behalf, to create a ventilated 
room on campus. He will be granted that request Nov. 5, but he said 
he feels the time it took for the university to respond was too long.

"The fear to me is [that] my reputation is going to be damaged," he 
said. "It's going to be hard to overcome. [ . . . ] I tried to do 
things quietly and surreptitiously, and it did not turn out that way."

MacLean is spending a year teaching at York on the strength of his 
reputation as an academic; he has worked on more than a dozen books 
and also netted an award from the American Society of Criminology in 1993.

He holds a Health Canada medical certificate that lets him use 
marijuana to manage the pain from his osteopathology, a condition 
that causes the bones of the body to leak calcium and degenerate.

York administration was not aware of MacLean's medical request until 
Oct. 18, when a journalist who caught wind of the case called its 
media relations department, said Alex Bilyk, spokesperson for MacLean's case.

Upon further investigation Bilyk found MacLean's request had not 
reached the labour relations department.

Ontario labour law requires employers to make accommodations for 
employees with medical illnesses. Once the request went to the right 
place, Bilyk said the university moved quickly to help MacLean.

"In any kind of medical scenario an accommodation has to be reached," 
Bilyk said. "This is the first time we've dealt with this type of 
request. It may sound simple once it's resolved, but it may take a 
while to be done."

Although he has had the illness for most of his adult life, 
56-year-old MacLean said he used resistance training to manage it 
until his back was broken in three places during a near fatal car 
accident three years ago.

It took several months for his back to heal fully enough for him to 
exercise, during which time the illness advanced. This required him 
to seek alternative treatments, he said.

Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act permits the use of 
medical marijuana -- if other drugs are ineffective or caused an 
allergic or adverse reaction -- for patients with terminal illnesses 
or certain medical conditions.

For example, marijuana can be used to control epileptic seizures or 
to reduce severe pain for patients with HIV, multiple sclerosis or arthritis.

In all cases the marijuana must be bought from a licensed dealer and 
cannot be given away or resold.

Jason Bouzanis, a spokesperson for Health Canada, said he was aware 
of MacLean's case but could not comment on it due to privacy concerns.

"A license to smoke marijuana does not exempt patients from federal, 
provincial or municipal laws," he added.

The University of Toronto faced a similar situation earlier this fall 
when Doug Hutchinson, a philosophy professor, requested a ventilated 
room to use medical marijuana for an illness he did not disclose.

The university granted him a room during the last week of September, 
said spokesperson Margaret MacMillan.

"It was clearly a new issue for the university, and I'm glad we came 
to an accommodation," she said.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine