Pubdate: Wed, 02 Mar 2016
Source: Houston Today (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Houston Today
Contact:  http://www.houston-today.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4080
Author: Tom Fletcher

COURT BACKS HOME MARIJUANA GROWERS

The Federal Court of Canada has struck down regulations requiring 
licensed medical marijuana users to buy from Ottawa-approved growers, 
giving people the green light to continue growing at home.

The ruling is suspended for six months, but the four B.C. residents 
who launched the court challenge had their growing licences protected 
under an earlier interim order. Thousands of people in B.C. and 
across Canada received licences to either grow pot themselves or 
designate someone else to do it, before the Conservative government 
attempted to restrict production to large commercial growers who sent 
it by mail.

With the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau intent on legalizing 
recreational marijuana use, Kirk Tousaw, a lawyer for the four, says 
the latest ruling should "once and for all end the stigmatization and 
criminalization" for medical users and their providers.

"And in addition, all pending criminal cases against medical cannabis 
producers, patients, growers and dispensaries should be immediately 
terminated," Tousaw told CTV Wednesday. "There is absolutely no 
reason in this day and age to continue to prosecute people for 
helping people improve their quality of life with medical cannabis."

Federal Court Judge Michael Phelan ruled that preventing people from 
growing marijuana for medical purposes violates section seven of the 
Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees "the right to life, 
liberty and security of the person."

The court challenge was brought by:

* Neil Allard, 61, of Nanaimo, a former counsellor for Veterans 
Affairs Canada until he was granted medical retirement in 1999 due to 
"chronic fatigue syndrome." He started growing his own marijuana 
after finding he was "sensitive to pharmaceutical medication," 
according to court documents.

* Tanya Beemish and David Hebert, a couple from Surrey aged 29 and 
34. Beemish suffers from type one diabetes and gastroparesis, and 
smokes or vaporizes two to 10 grams of marijuana a day to relieve 
nausea, pain, lack of appetite and insomnia. Hebert received a Health 
Canada license to be her designated grower.

* Shawn Davey of Abbotsford, 39, suffered a brain injury in a motor 
vehicle accident and receives a federal disability pension. He held 
licences to grow for himself and as a designated grower for others, 
authorizing him to produce 122 plants indoors and store 5,490 grams 
at the site of production.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom