medical marijuana

As the National Director of End Prohibition, the NDP's unofficial grassroots organization committed to ending prohibition of marijuana and normalizing Canadian drug policy, I strongly believe in our right, if not obligation, to protest unjust laws through protest, demonstration, and civil disobedience. Throughout history, we can see that violence only begets more violence, and for any civil right to be achieved requires discipline and willingness to suffer without retaliating with force.

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CBC News

 

A medical marijuana dispensary shut down by Montreal authorities earlier this month is urging clients to buy their drugs on the street.

 

The Compassion Club on Papineau Street is telling clients who need to refill their prescriptions that they now only have two choices if they want to obtain marijuana.

 

"We have to send them to either Health Canada, which takes two to six months, or we send them to buy on the street, where you can actually buy some," explained Geneviève Simon, a Compassion Club administrator arrested last month in police raids on cannabis centres.

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Statement from Health Canada

 

OTTAWA - Health Canada would like to provide information regarding the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) as they relate to organizations such as "compassion clubs" or "cannabis dispensaries".

 

Under the MMAR, Health Canada does not licence organizations such as "compassion clubs" or "cannabis dispensaries" to possess, produce, or distribute marihuana for medical purposes. Under the MMAR, only individuals can be authorized by Health Canada to possess and/or be licensed to produce marihuana for medical purposes. As well, Health Canada is the only organization that can legally supply marihuana seeds and dried marihuana for medical purposes to such individuals.

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By Tiffany Crawford, Vancouver Sun

 

VANCOUVER — As a new medical marijuana dispensary is set to open next week in Vancouver's west end, the B.C. Compassion Club Society expressed concern Friday that police raids on four pot shops in Montreal this week could be the start of a disturbing, cross-country trend.

 

Desperate medical pot users in Quebec have been calling the B.C. society, asking to become members in Vancouver, spokeswoman Elizabeth Glowacki said. The society has a mail-order program for members who do not live in the city.

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By Nathan Seppa, Science News

 

In science’s struggle to keep up with life on the streets, smoking cannabis for medical purposes stands as Exhibit A.

 

Medical use of cannabis has taken on momentum of its own, surging ahead of scientists’ ability to measure the drug’s benefits. The pace has been a little too quick for some, who see medicinal joints as a punch line, a ruse to free up access to a recreational drug.

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By Shawn Katz, Montreal Public Policy Examiner

 

As more information steadily comes to light following yesterday's dramatic raids on Montreal's cannabis clubs, one can't help but be struck by the latent absurdity of the entire affair. Though unwittingly, the police's true achievement may have been to shine a light on the striking dissonance between Canadian society's attitudes towards marijuana on the one hand, and the iron letter of the law on the other.

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CBC News

 

Police raids that shut down five compassion clubs in Quebec on Thursday underline some key problems with the federal government's medical marijuana distribution program, says the former leader of the Marijuana Party, Marc-Boris St-Maurice.

 

St-Maurice was among 35 people arrested in the raids in Montreal and Quebec City, which targeted clubs that sell marijuana to people who need the drug for medicinal purposes.

 

Police also seized just over 86 kilograms of marijuana and almost four kilos of hashish, which would put the street value of the seizure at just around $900,000.

 

They also confiscated about $39,000 in cash.

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The Canadian Press

 

MONTREAL—Police have done the Mob and street gangs a favour by cracking down on cannabis clubs, say pot decriminalization advocates.

 

They warn that people will now be buying their stuff from criminal networks instead of tax-paying businesses.

 

Thirty-five people were arrested in raids on Quebec’s so-called ``compassion clubs” — storefront outlets operating in plain view — while 90 kilograms of cannabis were also seized Thursday.

 

Those clubs in Montreal and Quebec City offered a wide selection of marijuana for about $10 a gram to customers who claimed a medical condition and provided a doctor’s note.

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CSSDP

 

Already in 2010 several medical marijuana compassion clubs have been raided by police in Iqaluit, Guelph, Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City. Staff have been given or threatened with criminal trafficking charges. Patients unfortunate enough to be inside at the time of the raids have been detained, questioned, and charged for attempting to access medicine that has been produced safely and responsibly. The clubs have had their contents confiscated, crippling their ability to conduct business, and more importantly denying patients safe and secure access to medication.

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BC Civil Liberties Association:

 

Quebec police shut down three medical cannabis dispensaries, also known as “compassion clubs” today, arresting all staff on site for trafficking. The Quebec closures follow a raid on a compassion club in Nunavut in February, in Toronto at the end of March, and in Guelph in May.

 

“These national raids have now sent thousands of Canadians to purchase their medicine on the street,” said Micheal Vonn, Policy Director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. “The police by these actions have enriched organize crime, encouraged associated criminal activity, and shut down non-profit organizations dedicated to improving people’s health and wellness. By any standard these raids make no sense at all.”

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