One step closer to legalizing pot??

5000 people openly smoked pot outside the Vancouver Art Gallery on April 20, 2009 (Ming Pao photo)

5000 people openly smoked pot outside Vancouver Art Gallery on April 20, 2009 (Ming Pao photo)

Some of the smokers look really young. (Ming Pao photo)

Haven’t written for a while. Too busy and too stressed out at life. :)

This news caught my eyes today: Top court ends government pot monopoly

Since people have been able to legally use pot medically a few years ago, we have been hearing complaints from “users” that government-santioned pot is of low quality. And that’s why there’re “compassion societies” springing up especially in the Lower Mainland to offer “better quality” med for users. With the top court’s decision of today, I guess I should really, seriously consider going into the “compassionate” business. Anyone?

CanWest — Canadians who are legally permitted to smoke pot to treat illness won a victory in the Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday when it refused to hear an appeal of a ruling that put an end to the federal government monopoly.

A three-judge panel, without giving reasons, rejected the Justice Department’s application to challenge a Federal Court of Appeal decision that gave licensed producers the right to grow marijuana for more than one patient.

The Supreme Court’s decision to stay out of the matter effectively upholds the 2008 ruling, which dismissed the government’s argument that the industry would be thrust into deregulation if the court loosened federal restrictions.

The decision was a victory for a group of patients who challenged the federal regulations, arguing that the government-issued pot, supplied by Prairie Plant Systems in Manitoba, is too weak and that they should have the option to find their own supply.

The appeal court decision struck down government regulations that authorized users who cannot grow their own marijuana to designate a grower, or obtain government-issued weed.

The patients sought the right to buy marijuana from Carasel Harvest Supply Corp., which, under the current regime, was not allowed to supply more than one patient with medical marijuana.

There are about 2,000 people legally allowed to use marijuana for medical purposes, but the lower court found only 20 per cent buy it from the government supplier.

Justice Department lawyer Sean Gaudet argued in the appeal court that statistics weren’t enough to conclude the government-supplied marijuana was inadequate, or forced people to seek drugs on the black market.

Moreover, sanctioning growers to supply more than one patient would allow the industry to develop “without safeguards” and exacerbate the risk that marijuana will be diverted to improper use, he said.

Another piece by the Vancouver Sun talks about the goodie of using pot among teens. Note the wording: “therapeutically”. Maybe the stage to legalizing pot has been set with series of recent events?

Teens smoke weed therapeutically: UBC study

Not all teenagers smoke marijuana with the goal of getting high. A new study by researchers at the University of B.C. has found that some teens use marijuana to relieve or manage health problems when other therapies have let them down.

The study, led by UBC Okanagan professor Joan Bottorff, involved in-depth interviews with 63 teenagers who use marijuana. Of those, 20 said they use the drug to manage health problems.

“Marijuana is perceived by some teens to be the only available alternative for those experiencing difficult health problems when legitimate medical treatments have failed or when they lack access to appropriate health care,” Bottorff said in a statement.

The most common complaints among the teens were emotional problems — such as depression, anxiety and stress — sleep difficulties, problems with concentration and physical pain.

The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and published today in BioMed Central’s open access journal Substance Abuse, Treatment, Prevention and Policy.

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