medical marijuana
Libby Davies calls for an end to the criminalization of medical marijuana users
Libby Davies, NDP Spokesperson for Drug Policy and Vancouver East MP“The raids on Canada’s Compassion Clubs are an attack on patient’s rights and must stop,” said NDP MP Libby Davies (Vancouver East).
After years of openly supporting medical marijuana users in their communities, a number of compassion clubs in Quebec and Toronto have been shut down.
The clubs serve patients with chronic illnesses and have emerged largely in response to the gaps and problems with federal Marijuana Medical Access Regulations. The BC Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that the program is unconstitutional and needs to be changed, yet the Conservatives have failed to respond beyond the most minimal legally necessary changes.
One pot club raid case withdrawn
By Thana Dharmarajah, Guelph MercuryGUELPH — The Crown has withdrawn its case against one of four people charged with drug trafficking when a Guelph compassion club was raided by police this spring.
On May 6, 31-year-old Nicole Freeborn was arrested and charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking after city police searched the Medical Cannabis Club of Guelph on Baker Street, as well as five other addresses on Dublin Street, London Road, Arrow Road and Quebec Street.
The club’s founder and two others were also arrested and charged with trafficking on the same day.
Earlier this week, the charge against Freeborn was withdrawn by federal prosecutor David Doney.
Legal medical marijuana patient threatened with eviction from tobacco friendly building
By: Jason Youmans, Monday MagAn Esquimalt woman says a local social housing organization is trying to evict her from her home of two-and-a-half years for using cannabis to treat her chronic conditions.
Christina Goluch, who suffers from debilitating arthritis and lupus and has Health Canada permission to possess and use medical cannabis, says she is the target of a campaign by the site manager of the Greater Victoria Housing Society’s Lions Lodge to rid the building of marijuana smokers, many of whom, says Goluch, are elderly and disabled and consume the drug to treat a variety of maladies.
“I’ve never gotten any real legal advice and so don’t really know where I stand,” says the 58-year-old. “I’m just sort of bobbing in the ocean alone, and really, everyone’s looking on to see what’s going to happen, because it will be a major victory for the medical marijuana community if I get the right to stay.”
Accused mounts medical marijuana defence
By BRYAN TAIT, Daily GleanerIn what could be a first in New Brunswick, a Hainesville man is fighting a drug possession charge on the basis of a medical certificate.
Todd Terrance LeClair was charged with possessing marijuana after a police search of his residence Oct. 19.
But LeClair is arguing he's been allowed to possess the narcotic after receiving a doctor's prescription on March 1, 2009.
On trial for the possession charge Friday, LeClair said he'd received his medical marijuana licence on Jan. 13.
That licence permitted him to store 1,500 grams in his home and carry 120 grams on his person.
What an ideal life, unless you like thinking
By: Staff Writer, Winnipeg Free PressTHE town of Pitt Meadows in British Columbia's Fraser Valley sounds like a lovely place to live. The Fraser Valley is famously beautiful. Pitt Meadows is a quiet and friendly town, so pleasant a place to live that a recent Ipsos Reid poll found that an astonishing 98 per cent of its 17,410 residents (2008) are happy with their way of life.
Other Canadians might wonder: "What way of life?" Most of us would need a lobotomy to live in this city that regulates the lives of its citizens in minute detail. The Globe and Mail describes Pitt Meadows as "the ban-happy capital of Canada" and, in fact, the town does nostalgically recall, at least in spirit, T.H. White's famous order of the anthill in The Once and Future King: "All that is not forbidden is compulsory."
Contentment comes at a cost. "We don't like big coffee cups on top of Tim Hortons," says the mayor. "No pit bulls, either." But large advertising icons and particular breeds of dogs are not the only things that the mayor and his council deny the happy inhabitants of Pitt Meadows.
Eight great things about cancer
It’s hard to describe what it feels like when you’re told you have cancer and probably won’t make it. I’ve heard some people with cancer say they were flooded with feelings of disbelief and fear. But for me it felt more like I’d been ejected from an airplane, one that was carrying everyone I knew, including my nine-day-old baby. At the time, being diagnosed with bone cancer of the maxilla (think Terry Fox with cancer of the face instead of leg) seemed like the worst thing that could ever have happened to me or my family. It meant I’d need extensive surgery on my face and chemotherapy (if I survived surgery, that is). It meant I’d have to spend lots of time in the hospital instead of in the yard with my baby and other children (I have four altogether, including two step-daughters). I’d lose my ability to breastfeed. I’d lose my hair. And I’d have to walk around with a question mark over my head for the rest of my life. Is today “my time?” Tomorrow? Next month? Next year?
But today, 17 months after surgery and 11 months since my last of six rounds of butt-kicking chemo, I look back and see that getting cancer has definitely had its perks. Here’s how:
When did Canada go from laid-back to straight-laced on marijuana policy?
By Marc-Boris St.-Maurice, The MarkI can totally understand why legendary stoner comedians Cheech and Chong might be tempted to take a shot at Harper. OK, I think calling the prime minister a “douchebag” is overly harsh language – I always thought you could catch more flies with honey – but as actors they can get away with it.
News Views: Picking a fight
Maple Ridge News - OpinionThe City of Pitt Meadows is one step away from banning the growth of medical marijuana – for distribution – in residential and agricultural zones.
Pitt Meadows doesn’t have an industrial area, yet, so amending its land-use bylaw effectively prohibits what is legal under federal law.
Growing medical marijuana for personal use would still be permitted in the city, but growing for others as a “home-based business” would not be allowed.
In Canada, there are 1,137 residents who hold a Personal Use Production Licence or Designated-Person Production Licence from Health Canada – permits that allow you to grow legal cannabis.
Pitt Meadows moves to ban legal medical marijuana gardens
By Monisha Martins - Maple Ridge NewsThe City of Pitt Meadows is on its way to banning medical marijuana grow operations.
Council gave third reading to a bylaw amendment Tuesday to prohibit growing the plant for medicinal use in residential and agricultural zones.
The city is among the first in Canada to use a municipal bylaw to thwart an activity that’s sanctioned under federal law.
Growing medical marijuana for personal use will still be permitted in the city, but growing for others as a home-based business will not be allowed.
Only one person spoke against the proposed amendment.
Probe clears Victoria police chief of misconduct
By Katie DeRosa, timescolonist.comThe B.C. Civil Liberties Association is dismissing an investigation that cleared Victoria’s police chief of misconduct, after Jamie Graham joked about an undercover officer spying on a busload of anti-Olympic protesters last year.
The association is calling for a more thorough probe by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
Meanwhile, the man who filed the complaint is demanding a full public hearing, saying the investigation focused on discrediting him rather than looking into whether Graham’s comments put anyone at risk.
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