Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jun 2015
Source: North Thompson Star/Journal (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Black Press
Contact:  http://www.starjournal.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1231
Author: Jeff Nagel
Referenced: Supreme Court Judgment (R. v. Smith): 
http://mapinc.org/url/d2dzMbjW

RIGHT TO POT COOKIES UPHELD BY HIGH COURT

Medical marijuana patients have a right to possess and use cannabis 
in the form of cookies and products other than dried bud, the Supreme 
Court of Canada ruled Thursday.

The unanimous decision is a major victory for cannabis crusaders who 
argued they should not be forced only to smoke or vaporize the drug 
when edible or topical products are safer and provide benefits such 
as delayed delivery.

"Inhaling marihuana can present health risks and is less effective 
for some conditions than administration of cannabis derivatives," the 
country's high court ruled.

It found the federal drug law exemption allowing medical pot patients 
access only to dried marijuana violated their constitutional right to 
life, liberty and security of the person.

Approved patients who illegally baked cookies, brewed pot tea or 
turned it into oil had faced the threat of criminal prosecution, but 
not any longer.

"This denial is not trivial," the court ruled. "It subjects the 
person to the risk of cancer and bronchial infections associated with 
smoking dry marihuana, and precludes the possibility of choosing a 
more effective treatment."

The ruling upholds the decision by B.C. courts that dismissed drug 
trafficking charges against Owen Smith, a Victoria man caught baking 
pot cookies for a local compassion club.

"It's a great decision from the point of view of all medically 
approved patients," said Abbotsford lawyer John Conroy, one of the 
lawyers who defended Smith before the Supreme Court.

He said the government's dried-only restriction was unreasonable.

"It forced people to choose between a legal but inadequate treatment 
and an illegal but more effective one."

Conroy is optimistic the Supreme Court's ruling will also guide 
another pending case in which medical marijuana patients have argued 
before a Federal Court judge that they should be allowed to continue 
growing their own pot at home, instead of buying only from new 
commercial producers authorized by Ottawa.

In that case as well, Conroy and co-counsel Kirk Tousaw argued 
similar constitutional rights are in play - that medical marijuana 
users are deprived reasonable access if they can't afford to buy from 
commercial producers and that they then risk jail if they grow it 
themselves or buy on the black market.

That trial took place this spring and the judge has reserved decision.

Conroy predicts Thursday's ruling may also allow commercial producers 
to start offering cannabis edibles and topicals, rather than just dried pot.

The Supreme Court did not give the federal government time to pass 
new regulations and instead issued an immediate order that the old 
restriction was no longer in force.

It's not yet clear how Ottawa will respond, but it could regulate pot 
derivatives through a different mechanism.

Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose told reporters marijuana is not 
an approved medicine and criticized the ruling for contributing to 
the normalization of marijuana use.

"I'm outraged by the message that judges are sending that they think 
that they can approve a drug into a medicine without clear medical 
scientific evidence and without safety reviews," Ambrose said.

She cited 36 cases of people being hospitalized after becoming ill 
from ingesting marijuana edibles at Vancouver's recent 4/20 pot celebration.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom