Canadian
Government Says Man With AIDS Doesn’t Need Medical Marijuana;
Judge Promises Ruling Soon - 2 Articles
See
Canadian AIDS
Patient Sues To Force Government To Provide Medical Marijuana
August 7, 1998
From the Toronto Star
lettertoed@thestar.com
http://www.thestar.com/By Wendy Darroch, Staff
Reporter
MAN WITH AIDS DOESN’T NEED POT, COURT TOLD
Other legal drugs can ease pain, crown tells judge
The Charter rights of an AIDS sufferer who wants to smoke marijuana for medicinal
purposes are not being violated, a prosecutor said yesterday.
There are other legal drugs that produce the same results as marijuana, but James
Wakeford doesn’t like them, Christopher Amerasinghe said.
Wakeford, who developed full-blown AIDS in 1993, has applied for an exemption to the
ban on marijuana because he says it is the only thing that eases the terrible nausea
caused by the medicine he takes to control his illness. He says the illegal drug also
stimulates his appetite.
Wakeford had testified that far from controlling his chronic
nausea, his one dose of a legal anti-nausea drug, Marinol, made it even worse for about
seven hours.
"He took one dose one day," Amerasinghe said of Wakeford’s experience
with Marinol, which contains synthetic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
(Ed. note: It is wonderful that the government thinks that a
seriously ill person should continue to take a drug that makes him feel worse, in order to
find out if it would make him feel better.)
Wakeford is arguing that the law violates his Charter rights to life, liberty and
security, and also discriminates against him on the basis of his disability.
Not only should he be allowed to smoke pot, he says, but the government should make
sure there is a clean, safe supply of it for medicinal purposes.
During the past few months, lawyers have gathered evidence and held about 10 days of
hearings. Yesterday, they made their final arguments.
Mr. Justice Harry Laforme of the Ontario Court, general division,
reserved judgment, but said he’ll try to hand down his decision "sooner rather
than later."
Wakeford’s lawyer, Professor Alan Young, has argued that if the 53-year-old
Wakeford does not have marijuana, his life is at risk because he can’t keep
medication or food down.
Wakeford said he usually smokes two cigarettes each evening to ease his nausea and
stimulate his appetite.
His liberty is at risk because he has to purchase the drug
illegally and could face imprisonment, Young said.
For Canada to provide quality-controlled marijuana would be akin to a person in a
wheelchair requiring the Government of Canada to build a ramp every time they encounter a
building with a barrier, Amerasinghe argued. The law is applied to everyone, he said, so
Wakeford’s claim of discrimination is not true.
(Ed. note: No, current policy is not to arrest a person in a
wheelchair every time he approaches a building without a ramp.)
Young said in his rebuttal yesterday that Amerasinghe was trivializing the issue.
"The point is a dying man is seeking lawful authority to use the medicine of his
choice."
From the Toronto Sun
editor@sunpub.com
http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoSun/
August 7,1998
By Sam Pezzano
RULING DELAYED ON USE OF POT AS AIDS RELIEF
A judge has reserved his decision on whether Toronto AIDS
activist James Wakeford should have the right to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Mr. Justice Harry LaForme promised yesterday his "written reasons" would be
delivered "sooner rather than later."
Wakeford, 53, had urged LaForme to order Ottawa to establish a program to supply pure
marijuana to AIDS patients.
Wakeford’s lawyer, Alan Young argued that his client smoked marijuana to combat
"unbearable nausea" and weight and appetite loss caused by the disease and
anti-AIDS drugs.
Wakeford was diagnosed as HIV-positive in 1989 and has had AIDS since 1993.
Government lawyer Chris Amerasinghe argued that he shouldn’t receive the same
pot-for-medicine exemption that epileptic Terry Parker won last year. See
The Lancet reports on the Terry
Parker case."Canadian Judge Allows Marijuana as Therapy"
Supported