issue 22 // volume 40

Weeding out medical
marljuana grow-ops

» Changes to Canadian pot prescription
laws not supported by patients

Patrick Vaillancourt
News Editor

Mi news
iY @theotherpress.ca

M edical marijuana users
across Canada will soon
be affected by higher prices and
more stringent rules on how
to acquire their much-needed
medicine.

Health Canada has
introduced new rules that
would overhaul the medical
marijuana system in Canada,
which will transition from the
current Marihuana Medical
Access Program (MMAP)
toa new regulatory regime
called the Marihuana for
Medical Purposes Regulations
(MMPR). The MMPR is said to
incorporate new rules around
the acquisition of medical
marijuana which reflect
Canada’s anti-drug stance.

The government under
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
has always made it clear that
it does not endorse the use of
marijuana. These regulations
are the product of recent
court decisions in which the
Supreme Court of Canada has
required the government to
ensure “reasonable access to a
legal source of marijuana when
authorized by a physician.”

The changes, which go
into effect as of April 1, were
announced by the government
last summer in an effort to
control the distribution of
marijuana. The decision,
according to the government,
was one which included public
safety considerations.

“These changes will
strengthen the safety of
Canadian communities, while
making sure patients can access
what they need to treat serious
illnesses,” said then-health
minister Leona Aglukkak when
announcing the changes on
June 19 last year.

The MMAP, which began
in 2001, allowed individuals
to apply for special licences
to grow their own marijuana
from home. The MMABP, which

 

 

By www.autolisp.org

: started with only 500 approved

: participants, has ballooned toa
: program with over 30,000 active
: participants.

The new regulatory

: regime will effectively ban

: home-based grow operations.
: The regulations will enable

: prescription marijuana to

: be produced with the same

: safeguards as other controlled
: substances, such as codeine

: and morphine. These quality
: safeguards will ensure that

: the government controls

: the production of medical

: marijuana through Health

: Canada-approved distributors.

Marijuana is already

: considered to be a Schedule

: Two substance under Canada’s
: Controlled Drugs and

: Substances Act.

The new regime is causing

? concern among Canadians who
: use medical marijuana to treat

: certain debilitating ailments, as
: the cost of marijuana under the
: new regime is expected to rise

: dramatically.

The mother of a 20-year-

: old woman with epilepsy in

: Vancouver said that the new

: federal rules will make medical
: marijuana so inaccessible that

: her daughter may die if the new
: regime is implemented.

“If there’s no way to stop

them from changing this, my
: daughter will die,” said Cheryl
: Rose to CBC News.

Rose, whose daughter

: Hayley had been approved

: under the previous rules, was

: growing her own plant at a cost
: of about $200 per month. She

: claims that marijuana was the

: only thing providing Hayley—

: who had been having about 15

: seizures daily—with any sort of
: relief. The MMPR will compel

: Rose to purchase marijuana

: from a government-approved

: producer at a much higher cost.

All personal-use production

: licences issued by the federal

: government will expire as of

: March 31 and medical marijuana
: patients will need to purchase

: from approved government

: subcontractors.

news // 5

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