SUBMISSION OF THE BEYOND PROHIBITION FOUNDATION IN RESPONSE TO PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS TO HEALTH CANADA’S MARIHUANA MEDICAL ACCESS PROGRAM
INTRODUCTION
The Beyond Prohibition Foundation was established in 2010 to advocate for the repeal of cannabis prohibition and its replacement with a system of regulated production and distribution. It operates the website www.whyprohibition.ca, Canada's largest dedicated drug policy reform website and host to more than 30,000 members. The Foundation's mission includes advocacy on behalf of safe access to medicinal cannabis and cannabis byproducts for those obtaining therapeutic and medicinal benefit.
This submission responds to Health Canada's consultation document titled "Proposed Improvements to Health Canada's Marihuana Medical Access Program" (the "Consultation Document"). In the Consultation Document, Health Canada foreshadows significant changes to Canada's medical cannabis policies. The Foundation welcomes Health Canada's tacit acknowledgement that the current Marihuana Medical Access Regulation (MMAR) system is deeply flawed and in need of significant reform. That reform is necessary in two primary areas: (1) the need to improve access to the legal protections afforded by the legislative and regulatory scheme; and (2) the need to provide consumers with safe access to an effective supply of medicinal cannabis and cannabis byproducts. This submission lays out the Foundation's view of the proposed changes and offers suggestions for making necessary improvements to the federal program.
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I am deeply concerned about the response by Health Canada to the various court decisions declaring its existing medical marijuana program unconstitutional. The proposals that have been brought forward fail to deal with the myriad of problems in the program. Specifically, I take issue with the following proposals:
Physician as “Gatekeeper”:
R v Mernagh found that physicians in Canada have effectively boycotted the existing medical marijuana program, and therefore the program itself was unconstitutional. Health Canada's response does nothing to address this boycott beyond the promise of making information accessible to physicians. Any changes to the Health Canada medical marijuana program must abide by the findings in R v Mernagh and meaningfully expand the “Gatekeeper” role beyond physicians, preferably to include Naturopaths, Nurse Practitioners, Doctors of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacists.
Personal and Designated Production:
Individuals have spent thousands of dollars and often years of time setting up production facilities and finding appropriate marijuana cultivars (strains) for their condition. Court cases including Sfetkopolous, Beren and Hitzig have found that denying production licenses on arbitrary grounds violates a patient's constitutional rights to access medical marijuana. Read more »
May 5, 2012 is the Global Marijuana March, and of course there is always 4/20 (April 20) and Cannabis Day, July 1. We need organizers working across Canada on these and other events.
Send that link out over Facebook and Twitter, encourage your friends to sign up! WhyProhibition.ca will is the basis for a number of important campaigns, including a new BC referendum to legalize Marijuana. We need people to register so they can find out about upcoming protests, rallies, and laws.
We need bloggers, researchers, newshawks, and activists to get posting! You can use the userblogs section to post blogs, news, upload files (especially pamphlets, we're looking to host as many drug policy pamphlets as we can find!)
One of the most important things you can do is get involved in your local community. Join other activist groups, volunteer at soup kitchens, march in local parades. When we get involved, not only do we reach out to potential allies, but we also represent the best of our community to people who may be unfamiliar with it. If you're unsure about a group, attend some meetings and see if they're amenable to drug policy reform.
Three and a half years ago, on my 62nd birthday, doctors discovered a mass on my pancreas. It turned out to be Stage 3 pancreatic cancer. I was told I would be dead in four to six months. Today I am in that rare coterie of people who have survived this long with the disease. But I did not foresee that after having dedicated myself for 40 years to a life of the law, including more than two decades as a New York State judge, my quest for ameliorative and palliative care would lead me to marijuana. Read more »
France's new president, François Hollande, has vowed to continue France's expensive addiction to repressive drug policies. Tom Blickman reports for the Transnational Institute:
Hollande's choice as Minister of the Interior, Manuel Valls, is a declared opponent to any reform on cannabis. During the election campaign, Hollande already opposed the proposal to convert the criminal offence of cannabis use into misdemeanour, put forward by his security adviser and mayor of Dijon, François Rebsamen. Hollande did not want to "give any signal foregoing a deterrent against the use of cannabis."
A Colorado advocacy group is spending thousands of dollars to convince people that smoking pot is safer than drinking alcohol.
It's an attempt by the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol to rally support for a vote in November that would legalize the drug for recreational use. Colorado legalized marijuana for medical use in 2000. Read more »
B.C. is refusing to say how much Ottawa's omnibus crime bill will cost the province in additional inmates, jail space and police officers, despite months of questions.
Justice Minister Shirley Bond dodged the issue at the legislature Wednesday, saying her government is still examining the impact of the federal changes.
Opposition New Democrats accused her of withholding financial figures she's had for at least six months.
The federal Conservative government introduced its tough-on-crime legislation, Bill C-10, last September. It passed in March.
The legislation increases penalties for sexual offences against children and drug crimes, requires courts to consider adult sentences for youths convicted of serious crimes, and prevents conditional sentences in some cases. Read more »
New Jersey lawmakers are set to consider a bill that would decriminalize the possession of up to a half ounce of marijuana, a move that would bring the state's drug policies closer to those in neighboring Connecticut and New York.
The Assembly Judiciary Committee is slated to hold a hearing Monday that would downgrade possession of small amounts of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, making both punishable by fines. The proposal calls for penalties of $100 to $500 for marijuana possession and fines of $100 for possession of a pipe, rolling papers and other drug paraphernalia. Violators who are underage or have multiple convictions would be referred for drug counseling.
The proposal is co-sponsored by 15 Democrats and 3 Republicans. Read more »
Medical marijuana was a major issue in the Democratic primary for Attorney General in Oregon - and the candidates' starkly different positions on the issue ensured victory for former judge Ellen Rosenblum.
Rosenblum is supportive of patients' rights to safe and legal access to medical marijuana while her opponent, former Interim U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton, is sharply critical of the program.
Although Holton was heavily favored early in the race, he was targeted for defeat by medical marijuana patients and their advocates after threatening medical marijuana providers and their landlords with property confiscation, and overseeing several medical marijuana raids while serving as interim U.S. Attorney last fall. Read more »
On May 5, the Orioles’ 2006 first round draft pick, Billy Rowell, tested positive for marijuana and received a 50-game suspension. Following the suspension, Billy called Major League Baseball “hypocritical” for their treatment of him. While that may not be the most appropriate word, the MLB policy on drugs and other illegal activity is certainly inconsistent. Read more »
For the first time in 83 years, people in the United States are more likely to die of drug poisoning than in a motor vehicle accident. The national prescription painkiller epidemic is largely to blame for this shift, and approximately 41 people in the United States die every day of a drug overdose involving prescription painkillers. Communities have been struggling to deal with not only the mortality associated with this epidemic, but also the increase in crime related to prescription drug trafficking and the rapidly-increasing number of patients needing substance abuse treatment. Read more »
Last week, Scott Morgan at StoptheDrugWar.com made the argument that it may be premature to think that Mitt Romney would be worse than President Obama when it comes to marijuana policy. He accurately pointed out that Romney was not in favor of medical marijuana, but that he also hadn’t really explained his position clearly. Romney certainly was not openly suggesting the kind of attacks perpetrated by the Obama administration over the last few years. To assume that he would be worse than Obama simply because he is a Republican, the party traditionally most opposed to marijuana policy reform, would be reactionary. Read more »
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Three and a half years ago, on my 62nd birthday, doctors discovered a mass on my pancreas. It turned out to be Stage 3 pancreatic cancer. I was told I would be dead in four to six months. Today I am in that rare coterie of people who have survived this long with the disease. But I did not foresee that after having dedicated myself for 40 years to a life of the law, including more than two decades as a New York State judge, my quest for ameliorative and palliative care would lead me to marijuana. 
France's new president, François Hollande, has vowed to continue France's expensive addiction to repressive drug policies. Tom Blickman reports for the Transnational Institute:
A Colorado advocacy group is spending thousands of dollars to convince people that smoking pot is safer than drinking alcohol.
B.C. is refusing to say how much Ottawa's omnibus crime bill will cost the province in additional inmates, jail space and police officers, despite months of questions.
New Jersey lawmakers are set to consider a bill that would decriminalize the possession of up to a half ounce of marijuana, a move that would bring the state's drug policies closer to those in neighboring Connecticut and New York.
Medical marijuana was a major issue in the Democratic primary for Attorney General in Oregon - and the candidates' starkly different positions on the issue ensured victory for former judge Ellen Rosenblum.
On May 5, the Orioles’ 2006 first round draft pick, Billy Rowell, tested positive for marijuana and received a 50-game suspension. Following the suspension, Billy called Major League Baseball “hypocritical” for their treatment of him. While that may not be the most appropriate word, the MLB policy on drugs and other illegal activity is certainly inconsistent. 
For the first time in 83 years, people in the United States are more likely to die of drug poisoning than in a motor vehicle accident. The national prescription painkiller epidemic is largely to blame for this shift, and approximately 41 people in the United States die every day of a drug overdose involving prescription painkillers. Communities have been struggling to deal with not only the mortality associated with this epidemic, but also the increase in crime related to prescription drug trafficking and the rapidly-increasing number of patients needing substance abuse treatment. 
Last week, Scott Morgan at StoptheDrugWar.com made the argument that it may be premature to think that Mitt Romney would be worse than President Obama when it comes to marijuana policy. He accurately pointed out that Romney was not in favor of medical marijuana, but that he also hadn’t really explained his position clearly. Romney certainly was not openly suggesting the kind of attacks perpetrated by the Obama administration over the last few years. To assume that he would be worse than Obama simply because he is a Republican, the party traditionally most opposed to marijuana policy reform, would be reactionary. 
