TURMEL: NOW Magazine: Health Canada Sniffs At Court Ruling

>NOW Magazine: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.nowtoronto.com
>Nov 13 2003 
>Health Canada Sniffs At Court Ruling That Was Supposed To 
Open The Door For Growers
 
NOW: Imagine city hall just deciding not to grant marriage 
licences to gay couples in Ontario even though there was a 
court order demanding they do so. Health Canada is doing 
just that to medical marijuana users. Health Canada, despite 
the recent Court of Appeal decision to make medical 
marijuana more available, isn't budging. 

JCT: Funny? What do they want Health Canada to do once the 
courts have ruled that the MMAR is now satisfactory?  

NOW: Last month, when the court tinkered with the medical 
marijuana access regulations to make them constitutional in 
a way that medicinal marijuana activists thought beneficial, 
I struck faster than the stereotypical pothead lunging for 
that last roach. 
 
Quickly, I resubmitted an application for a compassion club, 
or multi-grow licence, from Health Canada's cannabis medical 
access drug strategy and controlled substances program. It 
was the day after the unanimous Court of Appeal decision, 
and the media was indicating that the ruling would guarantee 
a seal of approval for my kind of application. 

JCT: Har har har har. "The media was indicating.." Har har. 
I guess he's finding out that "what the media was 
indicating" was not always quite right. Of course, the court 
did say "compassion clubs," not NOW's version of a 
compassion club, Health Canada's version. And since HC don't 
have a version, it'll have to wait.  
 
NOW: Within 72 hours I had a decision regarding my attempt 
to supply the Niagara region's terminally and chronically 
ill with medicinal pot. Denied. 
 
How could it be? After all, the decision said in part that 
"...There are a number of people who already have a source 
of marijuana and wish to engage in a compassion supply of it 
to those in medical need. It may be not all of these people 
would satisfy the requirements to become (federally licensed 
cultivators ). However, we are satisfied that, on record, 
enough would do so that taken together with existing 
Designated Production Licence holders, the DPL mechanism as 
modified could then provide a licit supply to (qualified 
patients )... (who) would no longer need to access the black 
market to get the marijuana they need." 

JCT: So there is no real need for any new compassion clubs 
since "...There are a number of people who already have a 
source of marijuana and... that taken together with existing 
Designated Production Licence holders, the DPL mechanism as 
modified could then provide a licit supply to ( qualified 
patients )... (who) would no longer need to access the black 
market to get the marijuana they need." 

It all is working great already, in theory. 

NOW: The decision, by the way, changed an earlier possession 
ruling that allowed people to toke in the streets. 

JCT: I wonder what lawyer they were talking to for them to 
accept that the court stopped toking in the streets with a 
new prohibition. Or old resurrected. 

NOW: The police immediately went out and started popping 
tokers left, right and centre. But Health Canada hasn't 
reacted at all to the ruling and is being extremely obtuse 
about how it intends to proceed. Trying to wade through 
Health Canada's red tape, I sought the assistance of my 
local MP, Walt Lastewka, with whom I've been corresponding 
regarding the benefits of medicinal marijuana. Now was the 
time to smoke the fruits of this relationship. 
 
Even though he's a Paul Martin supporter, against gay 
marriage and medicinal and recreational marijuana use, his 
constituency assistant, Mike Haines, put in a phone call on 
my behalf to Valerie Lasher, director of the cannabis 
medical access program. Shortly after, Haines left a message 
on my answering machine. "Basically, the lawyers for Health 
Canada are reviewing the decision, but she (Lasher) seemed 
to indicate that the court decision had no impact on the 
legality of compassion clubs. In her opinion, nothing has 
changed. They're indicating that compassion clubs are still 
operating outside of the law." 

JCT: I thought the court ruling meant to Health Canada what 
the lawyers said it meant to them too. Nothing has now 
changed now that the improved MMAR has saved the old CDSA. 
 
NOW: Obviously, apathy or stonewalling is policy at HC. Even 
Health Canada media spokesperson Cathryn Saunders adds that 
"we have until December 5 to determine if we are going to 
appeal the decision. Until that point, we are going to 
assess the implications before we can comment." 

JCT: Where do all these bozos get the date December 5? It's 
90 days, not 60 days. So the due date is actually Jan 5. 
Amazing how they can't even count right. 
 
NOW: Marijuana activist and Osgoode Hall law professor Alan 
Young 

JCT: No wonder there's so much misinformation. Judas Young 
is providing the spin.

NOW: responded to their statement by saying, "If they say 
they're not implementing (the decision ), they are in 
contempt of court. Period. It's as simple as that. 

JCT: And now all we have have to do is hold a few benefits 
to raise funds to pay Alan to fight a new motion to declare 
their non-implementation a "contempt of court." I'm sure 
there are many fun ways for the courts to enforce such 
contempt orders against government. Har har har har.  

NOW: They may interpret (the Court of Appeal case) in an 
obstructionist manner that requires us to go back to court, 
but they do not have the prerogative to say they're not 
complying with (the decision ). I'm shocked."  

JCT: Alan's shocked that he'll be required to go back to 
court when they haven't even yet held their fundraisers. 

NOW: After taking some time to mull over the decision, Young 
says his whole argument would have been different if he'd 
known the courts were going to just make some random 
changes. 

JCT: His whole argument would have been different? Of 
course, he wasn't challenging the prohibition system, he was 
challenging the permission system, even if the court did 
specifically corrupt the process to make it believed that he 
had been the one to win the challenge to the prohibition. I 
love realizing over and over and our appeal was granted even 
if the court lied about to cover it up. 

NOW: "If I knew those were the rules of engagement, I 
would've worked on a lot more obstacles that are found in 
the access regulations. 

JCT: Remember, he was objecting to the MMAR, what Justice 
Doherty had called the Young's "misguided application" when 
the proper request was Turmel's motion to invalidate the 
law. Now we find out that he would have misguided it to 
another misguided destination against the MMAR but never 
focusing on the CDSA. 

NOW: For example, no one ever talked about the 
disqualification of people who have narcotic convictions 
within the last 10 years from being producers. 

JCT: I did. At Federal Court where they have jurisdiction, 
not in provincial court where Alan fought before judges 
without jurisdiction over Federal Ministries. 

NOW: What a senseless restriction. Some of the best growers 
who can supply some of the best product for a sick person 
will unfortunately have a criminal record." 

Young adds, "With medical marijuana, there doesn't seem to 
be the political will - even though we have a directive 
based on the constitution. I've been in court now four, 
five, times with Health Canada over these issues, and it 
really has to come to an end. Health Canada has not 
demonstrated good faith." 

JCT: Of course, it helps that Young's questions were always 
off target. 

>Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 14:51:04 -0800
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Michael)
>Subject: Re: [MedPot-discuss] COMPASSION CLUBBED
Makes Alan Young out to be just the short-sighted twit I 
first saw him to be. ((U))   M

JCT: It's not what his narc handlers are saying. 
      
>Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 20:26:05 -0600
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Steve Philpott)
>Subject: Re: [MedPot-discuss] COMPASSION CLUBBED

SP: I talked at great length with Allan when I got busted, 
he told me "NOT" to put any applications in front of the 
court as they manipulate the law and will destroy all "HIS" 
hard work... 

JCT: You must have been about to do something useful for 
him to talk you out of it. 
What did you want to do? 
What was his hard work that could be destroyed? 

SP: I think it is lawyers who manipulate the law to their 
benefit, the longer they are in court the more they get 
paid.. simple law of economics. Oh well shit happens LOL
Peace Steve

JCT: Oh well, Alan Young happens LOL. 
No peace. John 

--
Abolitionist Slave Leader John C."The Banking Systems Engineer" Turmel
for UNILETS interest-free time-based currency in U.N. resolution C6
to Governments in the http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration.htm 
http://www.cyberclass.net/turmel 519-756-1325 USENET: can.politics