Pubdate: Tue, 16 Dec 2014
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Copyright: 2014 The Leader-Post Ltd.
Contact: http://www.leaderpost.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html
Website: http://www.leaderpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361
Author: James Keller
Page: A7
Referenced: Judgment (December 15, 2014): http://mapinc.org/url/NA2yLSbG

PATIENTS GET GREEN LIGHT TO KEEP GROWING OWN POT

Feds Want Commercial Operations Only

VANCOUVER - The Conservative government has lost its latest attempt 
to prevent medical marijuana users from growing pot at home, with the 
Federal Court of Appeal upholding an injunction that exempted 
patients from a massive overhaul of the system.

New rules were introduced earlier this year that prohibited home 
growing and instead shifted production to commercial operations, but 
a group of patients is challenging that regime in a case expected to 
be heard in the new year.

A Federal Court judge issued an injunction in the spring that allowed 
patients who were authorized to grow and possess marijuana under the 
old system to continue to do so until their case is resolved.

The government appealed, but the Appeal Court released a unanimous 
decision Monday upholding the injunction.

"It's very significant," Kirk Tousaw, a lawyer for the four 
plaintiffs in the case, said. "The big fear was that if the 
government's appeal was successful, then all of these people who have 
been protected by the injunction could very well turn into criminals 
overnight."

The previous medical marijuana regime, which was introduced in 2001, 
allowed patients to either grow their own pot, designate someone to 
grow it for them, or purchase it directly from Health Canada.

New regulations took effect this last spring that no longer allowed 
personal production and instead established a system of federally 
licensed commercial producers. There are now 15 such operations 
selling medical cannabis.

The plaintiffs filed a constitutional challenge arguing the updated 
regulations violate their right to access important medicine, because 
commercial prices are considerably more expensive under the new 
system. They also complained the commercial market wouldn't give them 
as much control over which strains of the drug they use.

The Federal Court trial is set to begin in February. The injunction 
preserves patients' right to grow their own marijuana at least until 
a decision is issued.

Two of the plaintiffs also filed a cross appeal, arguing the Federal 
Court injunction was too narrow and left out some patients because of 
the dates outlined in the injunction. The Appeal Court ordered the 
lower court to reconsider the terms of the injunction to clear things up.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom