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BACK AND FORTH ON THE MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA
Anne
McLellan, the Minister of Health, inherited an awful headache
when she took over the Health portfolio from her predecessor,
Allan Rock. In the year 2000, when the Ontario Court of Appeal
handed down its decision to allow marijuana for medical use,
Mr. Rock, like a little boy let loose in a candy store, had
exuberantly set about making it all happen. Never mind that
he was not bound to do so, since he was required to uphold
only Supreme Court of Canada decisions. Instead of appealing
the lower court decision to allow marijuana just for "medicinal
purposes" to the Supreme Court, Mr. Rock quickly opened
up a government-owned marijuana growing site in an abandoned
copper mine in Flin Flon, Manitoba, and enthusiastically amended
the regulations to permit marijuana to be used for "medical"
reasons - the word "medical" being loosely defined.
(See Reality, Aug./Sept. 2002, p.13, "Liberals
Plan to Decriminalize Marijuana.")
It was
then that Mr. Rock was transferred to the Ministry of Industry,
leaving Ms. McLellan holding the pot, so to speak, as well
as a vast number of problems arising from the grandiose marijuana
plans devised by Mr. Rock. For example, the medical profession
refused to prescribe marijuana for medical purposes since
marijuana had never been tested for such use, and the marijuana
crop in the copper mine was virtually unusable due to its
uneven and impure grade. Those problems arose because of the
ill-conceived plans of Mr. Rock. Ms. McLellan, after months
of suffering in silence, finally had enough.
At the
annual meeting of the Canadian Medical Association in August,
Ms. McLellan, announced that Mr. Rock's much bally-hooed plans
to supply marijuana as medicine were being snuffed out. Ms.
McLellan admitted at that meeting that marijuana should be
subject to the same standards as other prescription drugs
before their use can be authorized. She also stated
that it was hypocritical for her department to allow pot smoking
while, at the same time, her department was carrying out a
large and expensive campaign to stop tobacco smoking. Ms.
McLellan also admitted that she had been influenced by US
officials concerned by Canada's lax drug policies, which are
having a detrimental effect in the US. This is due to the
vast number of marijuana growing operations in Canada, mostly
run by organized crime (60 per cent of the crop is shipped
across the border to the US), as well as by Canada's failure
to enforce laws against possession of marijuana, which has
led to the wider use of marijuana, in both in Canada and the
US.
Mr.
Rock Furious
Mr. Rock was furious over Ms. McLellan's decision to back-track
on his policy and allow his plans for the medical use of marijuana
to "go up in smoke." According to Mr. Rock, human
rights demand that Ms. McLellan allow the drug to be made
available for medical use, even before the medical trials
have commenced.
Ms. McLellan
was clearly annoyed by Mr. Rock's interference with her departmental
decision. She stated (The Globe and Mail, August 21,
2002):
I
honestly wish that my colleague, the Minister of Industry,
had spoken to me before he decided to make comments in relation
to an issue, a policy and a department that he doesn't have
anything to do with any more.
She went
on to say that she was not shelving the federal program on
medicinal marijuana: she was simply waiting for the completion
of clinical trials. She said:
If
something is considered a therapeutic drug, that decision
and that representation has to be science-based. Anybody
who thinks we are shelving our policy is misinformed.
However,
as pressure from Rock, his "friends", and the powerful
marijuana lobby in Canada was felt by Ms. McLellan, she reversed
her policy yet again within a few days, on the use of marijuana
for medical purposes.
In a
long letter published in the National Post (August
29, 2002), Ms. McLellan implied that there had been a misunderstanding,
and that she had not backed away from the medical marijuana
program after all. She said that, for health reasons, people
may still apply for a licence to cultivate marijuana, or designate
someone else to cultivate it for them. She went on to say
that over 800 people in Canada have now received such licences,
and are permitted to possess marijuana for medical purposes.
She also
mentioned in her letter that her department had established
a "Stakeholders Advisory Committee on Marijuana for Medical
Purposes." The stakeholders will all be users or supporters
of marijuana for "medical" purposes, of course.
This little "advisory" committee, now firmly in
place, will ensure that Ms. McLellan does not make another
"mistake," and change her mind again on medical
marijuana use.
Thus,
the "medical" use of marijuana will continue, even
though there has been no scientific evidence as to whether
it has any medical value.
Those
with illnesses who claim that marijuana helps them, can, with
the government's blessing, continue to experience marijuana's
damaging side effects. Among other problems, marijuana lowers
immunities and is cancer inducing.
Moreover,
we still have to deal with the fact that the Liberal government
is planning to totally decriminalize marijuana. Certainly
most of the major newspapers have lined up their editorials
in a tidy little row to support such action. Further, predictably,
the Senate Committee on the non-medical use of drugs handed
down its report on September 4, 2002, recommending that marijuana
be not merely decriminalized, but legalized. No surprise there,
since that was the purpose of the Committee in the first place.
(See "Report By That Mad Senate Committee on Drugs,"
p. 19)
Ms. McLellan's
back-flip on the medical use of marijuana indicates just how
powerful the pro-drug lobby is in Canada.
Even
if you have previously written, please write again objecting
to the use of marijuana for medical purposes and the decriminalizing
of marijuana. Write to:
The Rt.
Hon. Jean Chrétien, PC, MP
Prime Minister's Office
80 Wellington St., 2nd Floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2
Tel. (613) 992-4211
Fax: (613) 941-6900
The Hon.
Martin Cauchon, PC, MP
Minister of Justice
Justice Building
284 Wellington St.
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
Tel: (613) 992-4621
Fax: (613) 990-7255
The Hon.
Ms. Anne McLellan, PC, MP
Minister of Health
Brooke Claxton Bldg.
Address Locator 0916 A
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9
Tel: (613) 957-0200
Fax: (613) 952-1154
Your MP
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
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