Pubdate: Tue, 03 Jul 2007 Source: Globe and Mail (Canada) Copyright: 2007, The Globe and Mail Company Contact: http://www.globeandmail.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168 Author: Brennan Clark Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) UNPAID BILLS MOUNT OVER OTTAWA'S POT Registered Users Refuse To Pay For Government-Grown Cannabis They Say Is Low In Quality And Overpriced VICTORIA -- For all Jason Wilcox cares, Health Canada's debt collectors can follow him to the grave. Mr. Wilcox, a terminally ill medical marijuana user living in Victoria, owes the federal government more than $6,400 for cannabis he purchased through Health Canada's medical marijuana program last winter. But like many who subscribe to the federal program, Mr. Wilcox is neither able nor willing to pay for his government-grown pot. Not only is the product low in quality and high in price, it should be covered by the health-care system like any other drug, he said. "I'm living out my years and I'm not going to pay a cent for any of this. I truly believe this medicine should be provided for free," said Mr. Wilcox, who lives in subsidized housing in the city's James Bay neighbourhood. "I'm just one of many examples and I'm speaking out for everyone who can't speak for themselves on this issue." He's not alone. It's estimated that 227 of 538 registered users who order their marijuana from the government have been cut off for failing to pay for the product. About 4 per cent of those accounts have been turned over to collection agencies. Health Canada provided updated figures this month indicating that the total debt for registered users now exceeds $300,000. The rising tide of unpaid bills comes amid reports that Health Canada is charging subscribers 1,500 per cent more than it pays for its pot. The figures, obtained by the advocacy group Canadians for Safe Access and released to the media late last month, show that Health Canada pays Prairie Plant Systems $10 an ounce and charges patients about $150. And that has advocates accusing the government of price-gouging low-income people with chronic illnesses. "It's the combination of sending collection agencies after people who are critically ill for pot that's already been marked up 1,500 per cent that's so ridiculous," said Philippe Lucas, founder of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, a quasi-legal provider of medical marijuana. Health Canada spokesperson Renee Bergeron said recent news reports looked only at the bulk purchase price and ignored additional costs such as testing and distribution. Health Canada can't release details about the program's costs due to the privacy requirements of its contract with Prairie Plant Systems, the company that grows marijuana under contract to the government. However, Ms. Bergeron said the price charged to medical marijuana users "does not fully recover the costs associated with the production and distribution" of the pot. Diagnosed HIV-positive 13 years ago, Mr. Wilcox uses marijuana to battle nausea, headaches, muscle pain and other side effects of the powerful anti-retroviral drugs that keep him alive. Marijuana also helps counter bouts of anger and aggression brought on by muscle-building steroids he injects to keep his body from wasting away. Two years ago, Mr. Wilcox's 6-foot-1-inch frame weighed just 155 pounds. Now he's back up to 216. "I had a choice between a needle and a cane and I chose the needle," he said. "It's a quality of life issue. I've got another five years before my organs start to fail from all the [retroviral] drugs." The federal licence Mr. Wilcox was granted three years ago permits him to possess and use up to 10 grams of marijuana a day - 20 to 30 joints. Five grams is the norm for most medical marijuana licensees, but Mr. Wilcox has developed a high tolerance. In addition to smoking marijuana, he makes pot cookies and uses marijuana butter liberally. Like the majority of Canada's 1,774 registered users, Mr. Wilcox prefers to grow his own "medicine." When his marijuana crop failed last fall, Mr. Wilcox started ordering marijuana from the government. Over a four-month period starting last December, Health Canada sent him 1,200 grams of pot, ordered through a 1-800 number and delivered by Purolator. "I was talking to a machine so I just kept ordering it," he said. "I never once talked to a real person." The final shipment arrived in March, with a letter informing him that his supply had been cut off and his account may be turned over to a collection agency. At $5 a gram, the government cannabis costs about half as much as high-end bud grown by local compassion clubs. Mr. Wilcox, who supports himself and a seven-year-old daughter on disability benefits of less than $1,000 a month, admits he had no intention of paying for the product. "When you have a choice between keeping your meds down at any cost, even if it means having a bad credit rating, I figure it comes down to survival of the fittest," he said. "If that makes me a criminal, so be it." Mr. Wilcox's roommate, Ann Genovy, is in debt as well. Ms. Genovy, who is also HIV-positive, ordered two $1,500 shipments before Health Canada severed her supply line. The couple's neighbour in the complex, Linda Rushton, ordered one shipment and now owes more than $1,500. The mounting problems with the Health Canada program are symptomatic of the government's reluctant role as a legalized drug dealer. In 2001, Health Canada signed a five-year contract with Prairie Plant Systems to grow cannabis on an experimental basis in an abandoned mine shaft in Manitoba. Ordered by the courts in 2003 to make marijuana available to critically ill people, Ottawa appealed the decision for another two years before finally agreeing to distribute the product it had been growing for years. Ms. Bergeron said the government made it clear from the start that it will not provide patients with free marijuana. "Our policies have always stated there will be a cost to the product," she said. "There's no provision that allows the patient to be exempt from payment." Despite recent court rulings, marijuana is "not approved as a therapeutic drug in Canada" and generally not covered by the public health-care system, Ms. Bergeron added. THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, is available free of charge under the public system. But Mr. Wilcox claims synthetic versions of the drug do a poor job of relieving his symptoms. With his personal grow-op back in production, he still has about 150 grams of leftover government marijuana. The vacuum-sealed foil pouches sit in his kitchen cupboard like so many packages of fresh ground coffee. Unopened product can be sent back to the government, but Mr. Wilcox said he plans to keep the government bud to protest against the way Health Canada has managed the medical marijuana program. "I'll probably cook with it. That's about all it's good for." Marijuana Timeline 1923: Marijuana is made illegal under the Opium and Drug Narcotic Act. 1961: Canada increases penalties to seven years for marijuana cultivation and to 14 years for marijuana importation. 1973: Politicians such as prime minister Pierre Trudeau and Progressive Conservative MP Joe Clark are among those who support decriminalization following the findings of the Le Dain Commission's inquiry into the non-medical use of drugs. 1992: The federal Conservatives under prime minister Brian Mulroney introduce a bill to double penalties for marijuana possession, but the government is defeated before the bill becomes law. May, 1997: The B.C. Compassion Club Society becomes the first registered non-profit dispenser of medical marijuana, followed in short order by its Ontario counterpart, the Toronto Compassion Centre. Both operate in a legal grey area under constant threat of prosecution. May, 1999: Ontario AIDS patient Jim Wakeford becomes the first legal medical cannabis user in Canada when the courts grant him an exemption under Section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act July, 2000: Ontario Court of Appeal rules that Canada's marijuana laws violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. January, 2001: Health Canada launches the country's first legal marijuana growing facility in an abandoned mine shaft in Manitoba. July, 2001: Canada becomes the first country in the world to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana. Legal users with terminal illnesses and chronic conditions are issued photo ID cards. October, 2003: The Ontario Court of Appeal declares aspects of the government's medical marijuana program unconstitutional and orders Ottawa to begin distributing the product. February, 2005: The Canadian Press reports that 127 of 278 users have failed or refused to pay for their government marijuana. December, 2006: The Conservative government cuts $4-million destined for medical cannabis research. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman