This solves nothing for anyone, not even the 14 who are exempted. They have no way of getting the marijuana.

Meanwhile, back in DEAland, the federal government is still resisting medical marijuana, while giving medical marijuana to eight people . Consider that the population of DEAland is roughly ten times that of Canada, so we should have 140 medical marijuana patients by whatever formula Rock used. Or something like that...)

OTTAWA (AP) - Canada is granting 14 people with serious illnesses permission to use marijuana for medical reasons, the country's health minister said Tuesday.

The health department sifted through 100 applications, selecting 14. No applications have been rejected outright, and there may be more exemptions granted, officials said.

The federal government first gave permission for the cultivation and use of marijuana for medical purposes in June, when Health Minister Allan Rock granted special exemptions from federal drug law to two people who have AIDS.
See
Canadian Health Minister Issues Call To All Pot Growers To Send Him Their Resumes.
In The Meantime, He Is Going To Try To Get Marijuana From DEAland.
Maybe He Will Have Better Luck Than Our Own Researchers.
Two AIDS Patients Get Exemptions.

Some of the people who applied to use marijuana said they're too sick to grow the plants. The government, in turn, has said it will invite bids from firms to cultivate the plant.

"One of our goals is also to get a Canadian source of supply for medical purposes so that problem doesn't arise,'' said Rock.

"As you know, we're new to this line of work, so we're doing the best we can to cope.''

(Marijuananews note: The people who need medical marijuana know all about "coping.")
See
Health Canada To Spend Five Years and Millions
Playing the Research Game Trying Avoid Medical Marijuana

People wishing to apply for permission to use marijuana must have a doctor's approval.

Those with illnesses such as cancer and AIDS say marijuana helps relieve pain and stimulate their appetite.

Despite the shift on medical usage of marijuana, Canadian laws against the drug remain in force and are applied, resulting in many convictions every year.
See
Two Leading Canadian Anti-Prohibitionists Quoted
As Their Papers Actually Report On Canada’s Marijuana Arrest Statistics.
2 Amazing Articles

In the United States, at least six states have passed measures to permit the drug's medicinal use if prescribed by a physician.
(Marijuananews note: No, doctors cannot "prescribe" medical marijuana under Federal law, so the state initiatives – with the exception of Arizona -- were written to allow doctors to "recommend" medical marijuana. Of course, the prohibitionists then complained that the initiatives didn’t require prescriptions, which are prohibited…)

October 4, 1999

From The National Post
letters@nationalpost.com
http://www.nationalpost.com/
http://forums.canada.com/~canada
By Luiza Chwialkowska, National Post

ROCK TO EXEMPT 12 MARIJUANA USER FROM PROSECUTION

Allan Rock, the Health Minister, is expected to announce this week that he will exempt from criminal prosecution approximately a dozen Canadians who use marijuana to relieve medical problems, the National Post has learned.

The exemptions for the yet-unnamed individuals will be the first granted by Mr. Rock since he allowed unprecedented legal access to marijuana for two AIDS patients last June after the Ontario Superior Court ruled that lack of such access contravened a patient's rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Mr. Rock has since received some 90 requests from patients across the country asking permission to use the banned substance to relieve the symptoms of diseases, including glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, manic depression, cancer and AIDS.

The exemptions are being announced at the same time as the constitutional issues surrounding the regulation of marijuana return this week before the judiciary. An appeal to begin on Wednesday at the Ontario Court of Appeal will challenge Parliament's right to regulate the drug.

Just as Mr. Rock's exemption policy comes into full swing, however, the minister is facing increased pressure to provide a source of marijuana to the exemption holders who complain they have been given the right to use, but not to purchase, the illegal drug.

"The exemption does not resolve all the issues," Jim Wakeford, who launched the successful Charter challenge, wrote to Mr. Rock after two of his suppliers were arrested. "I have no legal access to marijuana and there is no protection from criminal penalties for my caregivers, people who help look after me during periods of illness."

Mr. Wakeford is asking that the government create a medically regulated supply of marijuana for medical use. He is also asking Mr. Rock to exempt from prosecution caregivers and cultivators who supply marijuana to the ill.

Sources close to the health minister say he has not ruled out either option. Indeed, Mr. Rock has instructed the Health Department to develop a business plan and a timetable for the development of a Canadian-grown source of marijuana for medical use. He is considering using such a domestic crop to supply patients.
See
In Canada Only the Government Has Difficulty Getting Marijuana.
However, "Canadians who want to take part in a clinical trial
will find application forms on Health Canada’s Web Site"

Mr. Rock is also said to be looking for a way to be "flexible" in the case of caregivers.

While the minister mulls his options, however, prosecutions are proceeding.

(Marijuananews note: This is really great journalism.)

Aubert Martins, an Ottawa-area cultivator who supplied marijuana to a group of cancer and AIDS patients, including Jean-Charles Pariseau, the second Canadian to receive an exemption from Mr. Rock, will appear in court this week to set a date for his trial on charges of production and possession of marijuana.
See
Canadian Police March AIDS Patient, Wife and Child from House With Hands Over Their Heads;
Destroy Medical Marijuana Plants

In March, RCMP raided Mr. Martins' basement apartment, seizing 178 marijuana plants and growing equipment after media reports described his efforts to supply marijuana to the ill.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.

As Mr. Rock proceeds with his policy of exemptions for individual patients, the Appeal Court of Ontario -- the highest court yet to consider the issue -- will, on Wednesday, hear arguments concerning the removal of marijuana offences from the Criminal Code.

Alan Young, professor at York University's Osgoode Hall law school, will draw on rulings in two separate lower-court decisions on joint appeal to argue for decriminalization. In 1997, a lower court convicted Chris Clay, a recreational marijuana smoker in London, Ont., but not before finding marijuana to be "harmless." Mr. Clay is appealing his conviction. The same year, in the case of Terry Parker, a Toronto epileptic, a lower court ruled marijuana to be "therapeutic" and gave Mr. Parker access to the drug. The Crown is appealing that judgment.
See
Canadian Judge:
"There is no evidence marijuana use causes health problems,
and the laws prohibiting the substance cause harm to society."

Copyright: Southam Inc.

October 4, 1999

From The National Post
letters@nationalpost.com
http://www.nationalpost.com/
http://forums.canada.com/~canada
By Luiza Chwialkowska, National Post

'WHEN I TRY TO MEDICATE MYSELF, I'M ARRESTED'

While Allan Rock, the Health Minister, prepares to allow a growing number of Canadians to access marijuana for medical use, the lawyer who represents many of the affected patients is appealing to Mr. Rock's cabinet colleague, Anne McLellan, the Justice Minister, to stay the prosecutions of marijuana users who were arrested before Mr. Rock began his exemption policy in June.

Allan Young, professor at Osgoode Hall law school, has asked Ms. McLellan to intervene in the cases of individuals he represents.

At the top of his list is John Klaver, a 51-year-old veteran Edmonton firefighter, who has been charged with cultivation of marijuana and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
See
Edmonton Fireman Fined And Given Probation For Growing His Own "Potent Pot"
In "Sophisticated Hydroponic Grow-Operation" -- With 15 Medical Marijuana Plants! --
Bad Journalism and Bad Laws

Mr. Klaver, who had reached the rank of captain and received an Exemplary Service Medal for 20 years of work, resigned from the Edmonton Emergency Response Department after the drug charges cost him the trust of his superiors.

Mr. Klaver says he used the marijuana as an appetite stimulant after clinical depression had robbed him of his desire to eat.

In September, 1998, RCMP raided Mr. Klaver's house near Stony Plain, Alta. Inside was a crop of 37 cannabis plants Mr. Klaver was cultivating.

Mr. Klaver and his wife, Wendy, could face six months in prison. Their trial is scheduled for Feb. 22.

"I lost my will to live. I had no appetite whatsoever," says Mr. Klaver, who, at a height of six feet, had dropped more than 50 of his 200 pounds during the course of one year. "I'm a typical redneck. I like eggs and sausages in the morning," says Mr. Klaver, who found himself refusing even toast.

"I knew I could eat like a pig when I took marijuana," he says.

In addition, marijuana helped relieve the chronic pain that Mr. Klaver suffered after a fall through the floor of a house left him with a collapsed disc in his back.

A recovered alcoholic, Mr. Klaver once drank a bottle of whiskey a day after a shift that often involved dragging the dead from fire wreckage.

"I'm allowed to drink myself to death," he says. "But when I try to medicate myself, I'm arrested."

His depression grew as he became embroiled in political disputes within the fire force. An anonymous letter he wrote to the press -- outlining the mishandling of a major Edmonton fire -- led to upheaval on the force. He says the battles took an emotional toll. After learning of the suicide of a fellow firefighter, he began to contemplate killing himself.

Mr. Klaver turned to marijuana after he stopped drinking and sought help for the depression. With the support of his doctor, he took marijuana before meals.