Pubdate: Wed, 05 Nov 2008
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Copyright: 2008 The Leader-Post Ltd.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361
Author: Veronica Rhodes
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)

INMATE DENIED POT IN JAIL

An inmate at Regina's jail says the federal government has given him 
permission to use medicinal marijuana to combat chronic pain, but the 
provincial government won't allow him to smoke pot behind bars.

Dean Samborski, 52, said he has a licence from Health Canada to smoke 
medicinal marijuana.

However, while serving time in the Regina Provincial Correctional 
Centre for theft under $5,000, he has not been allowed to use marijuana.

"(They say) it is an illegal drug or substance. But I've been OK'ed 
to smoke it, so why is it illegal?" questioned Samborski.

He said the marijuana is needed for pain management for injuries he 
suffered in a motorcycle accident in 1976.

Instead of marijuana, he has been given Tylenol, Motrin and 
anti-inflammatories, but those medications do not provide any relief 
for the pain.

"On my left side, I'm hemiparaplegic and my left knee hyperextends, 
so my left knee hurts from walking. On my back, I've got a bad lower 
back because it twisted in the accident. I'm always in pain and they 
won't give me nothing for it," he said.

Samborski was issued the licence to utilize medicinal marijuana in 
August by Health Canada. He explained his doctor prescribed three 
grams per day and he is allowed to carry up to 90 grams, which is a 
month's supply.

"I have the licence, I can smoke it legally with the government. But 
(Corrections officials) won't allow me to smoke it because I'm in 
jail," he said.

The Ministry of Corrections, Public Safety and Policing has confirmed 
Samborski has the licence in his possession and is the only inmate in 
a provincial correctional facility with such a licence.

However, ministry spokeswoman Judy Orthner said she could not speak 
specifically to his case.

Speaking generally, she said the ministry does not have a policy 
against the use of medicinal marijuana in correctional facilities but 
follows the guidelines set out by the Saskatchewan Medical 
Association, which recommends physicians not participate in the 
dispensing of marijuana.

The ministry has a contract with a physician who provides the 
medication orders for inmates while they're in custody.

"The medication order may be quite different from the medication 
order that the offender may have gotten from a different physician, 
from a physician outside in the community," said Orthner.

Medications for inmates are paid for by the provincial government, if 
the medications are on the provincial formulary. Orthner said the 
physician is aware of this and tries to prescribe medications on the formulary.

Medicinal marijuana is not on the provincial formulary.

But if the contracted physician were to prescribe medicinal marijuana 
for an inmate, Orthner said the ministry would follow that order.

"If the medical judgment of that physician is such that medical 
marijuana -- that that's what the physician would be prescribing -- 
then we would need to comply with that medical professional's 
decision," she said.

The department is currently in discussions with the provincial 
Ministry of Health to develop a policy related to the possible usage 
of medicinal marijuana in provincial correctional facilities, but 
Orthner could not say when the policy would be completed.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom