Pubdate: Fri, 12 Jun 2015
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Authors: Geordon Omand and Terry Pedwell
Page: A1
Referenced: (R. v. Smith): http://mapinc.org/url/d2dzMbjW

MEDICAL POT NOT JUST FOR SMOKING

Health minister 'outraged' over legalization

The Harper government's power struggle with the Supreme Court of
Canada continued Thursday, as the health minister angrily denounced a
ruling legalizing pot brownies and other methods of consuming medical
marijuana.

''Frankly, I'm outraged by the Supreme Court," Health Minister Rona
Ambrose told reporters in Ottawa after the high court said patients
now can use cannabis tea, brownies, chocolate bars, hash, balms,
creams, lotions, tinctures, infused oils and salves.

Ambrose maintained that cannabis didn't become therapeutic "because
judges deemed it so."

"Judges, not medical experts, judges have decided something is a
medicine," she said.

Thursday's decision was a 7-0 ruling, and the court made a point of
attributing it to the entire court - something the justices do when
they want to underline a finding. It was the latest in a series of
high court rulings rebuking the Harper government's tough-on-crime
agenda, including unanimously rejecting the ban on providing
doctor-assisted death to mentally competent patients.

Until now, federal regulations stipulated that authorized users of
physician-prescribed cannabis could consume only dried marijuana. But
limiting medical marijuana use to dried pot "limits life, liberty and
security of the person" in two ways, the court said.

First, the prohibition on possession of cannabis in forms other than
dried pot places a person at risk of imprisonment when they wouldn't
face the same threat if they possessed dried marijuana buds. It also
exposes people with a legitimate need for marijuana to other potential
medical ailments, it stated. "It subjects the person to the risk of
cancer and bronchial infections associated with smoking dry marijuana
and precludes the possibility of choosing a more effective treatment."

There is no connection between the prohibition on non-dried forms of
marijuana and the health of the patients who qualify for legal access,
the court said. "It is therefore difficult to understand why allowing
patients to transform dried marijuana into baking oil would put them
at greater risk than permitting them to smoke or vaporize dried
marijuana," the justices added.

"Moreover, the Crown provided no evidence to suggest that it would =C2=85

Finally, the evidence established no connection between the impugned
restriction and attempts to curb the diversion of marijuana into the
illegal market. We are left with a total disconnect between the limit
on liberty and security of the person imposed by the prohibition and
its object."

There is no legal supply of cannabis derivatives - and the landmark
decision will trigger a sea-change in the direction of the medical
cannabis industry in Canada away from smoking by allowing a broad
range of new products.

The decision also has resonance for this fall's election - the
Liberals are in favour of loosening restrictions, while the
Conservatives are not.

The decision stemmed from the 2009 arrest of Owen Smith, head baker
for the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club. He was charged after police
found hundreds of pot cookies and cannabis-infused olive and grape
seed oils in his Victoria apartment. He was acquitted at trial and won
an appeal.

The lower court decision had given Ottawa a year to fix the law, but
the Supreme Court did not suspend its declaration Thursday. Such a
suspension would leave patients without lawful medical treatment and
the law and law enforcement in limbo, the judges said.

On Thursday, Smith said he received a phone call from a mother who
used cannabis-infused oil to treat her daughter's epilepsy. "She was
just overjoyed and in tears about the decision," he said. "I think
across the country there will be a lot more smiles and a lot less pain.''

Cheryl Rose, whose daughter, Hayley, takes cannabis for a severe form
of epilepsy, said the 22-year-old's seizures have dropped
dramatically. Under the previous law, Hayley had to take 15 capsules
of dried cannabis daily. Now, she will have to take only one
concentrated capsule made with oil.

"Without having extracts available for her, I don't think we'd be able
to keep it up. It's way too much for a person to consume," she said.
"She's finally going to fully have her life back."
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MAP posted-by: Matt