Ottawa Citizen, January 28, 1998

KITCHENER –
Smoking 30 marijuana joints a day has made life a lot more bearable for Klaus Jaitner since 1990.

It's been the medication of choice for the 45-year-old man since he severely damaged his right hand and arm while lifting heavy boxes at work.

Diagnosed with "chronic cumulative trauma disorder" and told he would always have pain from tendon and nerve damage, Mr. Jaitner turned to marijuana as a way to relieve his misery.

In fact, to ensure a steady cheap supply he began growing his own pot in 'the basement apartment he rents in his brother’s home.

Things would have gone along fine if his brother’s ex-girlfriend hadn’t noticed a distinctive odour in the home, and decided to tip off police last November, Mr. Jaitner said following an appearance in Kitchener provincial court Tuesday. Mr. Jaitner was sentenced to four months house arrest and eight months probation for producing an illegal substance. He must also perform 40 hours community service work.

In imposing sentence, Judge Elliott Allen referred to an Ontario court ruling last December involving an epileptic who said he uses pot to control his seizures.

In that case, Judge Patrick Sheppard stayed charges of possession and cultivation of marijuana against Terry Parker.

The federal government is appealing the case, saying that smoking marijuana is illegal regardless of the medical benefits.

Justice Allen remarked that the Parker case, as well as a second recent case, show the law is in "a state of flux."

He said the two cases present "substantial evidence reflecting a change in attitude to marijuana. It may be it’s less harmful than it’s perceived to be in many ways, and has legitimate medical uses," Justice Allen said.

Mr. Jaitner’s lawyer, Lee Fitzpatrick, said outside court that Mr. Jaitner didn’t want to wait for the appeal of the Parker case. He decided to plead guilty in return for trafficking charges being dropped.

Mr. Jaitner said the marijuana isn’t so much a pain reliever as a relaxant. "It helps you deal with the psychological pressure that chronic pain causes. You’re not constantly stressed out," he said.

He said the tension from the pain caused him massive migraine headaches, which pot relieves.

"I knew what I was doing was against the law, but I kept it private," he said.

Doctor buried under red tape -
Effort to get marijuana for AIDS patient runs into bureaucracy

Ottawa Citizen, January 30, 1998

An Ottawa doctor who hopes to force the government's hand on medicinal marijuana said he is being buried under government red tape.

Dr. Don Kilby recently applied to Health Canada for a legal exemption that would allow marijuana to be used as a medicine by a Vanier man with AIDS. Dr. Kilby said marijuana eased the side-effects of AIDS medication taken by Jean Charles Pariseau, who was charged with possession of the drug in October.

Initially, the man responsible for regulating drugs for the federal government, Dann Michols, suggested the government was willing to approve the use of marijuana as a legal medicine in emergency situations.

"We have said this all along and our minister (Allan Rock) has said it all along: Marijuana as a medicine is not an outlandish proposition," Mr. Michols, director general of the therapeutic products directorate, recently said.

But Dr. Kilby said he has since been sent on a bureaucratic goose chase in search of details on how to get licensed to grow and supply marijuana. And he has been overwhelmed by "hundreds of pages" of regulations and procedures that he said do little to help him understand how to get through the government’s "hoops. (Ed. Note: This is the same technique used by the US bureaucracy when the so-called Compassionate Investigative New Drug program was still operative. When Bob Randall found a way to speed up the paper work, the program was swamped by applications, primarily from people with AIDS, so they just closed the program. This probably hastened the death of many of the applicants, taking the pressure off the bureaucracy. Very efficient.)

"I don’t see how, without an intervention from the minister of health to allow for an exemption under the act, we’ll be able to get through this," Dr. Kilby said in an interview. "My patient can't wait."

Dr. Kilby said he supports the pressure tactics of a group of Ontario hemp-store owners who have announced they plan to sell marijuana illegally in a bid to force the government’s hand.

Dr. Kilby said he hopes their move pushes the government to act on its rhetoric. He is inspired by the example of the Netherlands, where growers sell marijuana to government institutions – even though they are not licensed.

"Although I feel very encouraged by the fact that the (Canadian) government has said ... ‘If you can go through the hoops, we'll give it to you,’ I’m really beginning to wonder whether these are hoops that you can actually go through."

Buyers' clubs illegal -
Medicinal marijuana still falls outside law, police, politicians say
SeeCanadian Activists to Force the Medical Cannabis Issue by Openly Supplying Patients -- Bravo!

Ottawa Citizen, January 31, 1998

By Mike Shahin

Medicinal marijuana buyers clubs are likely to remain in the grey zone of politics and the law for awhile - judging by reaction to a brash attempt to force the issue.

A group of Ontario activists is promising to openly supply cannabis to people whose doctors advise them to use it for illness. The activists have asked the federal health and justice ministers to exempt them from the law, but say they will run the clubs in eight southwestern Ontario cities even without an exemption.

Pierre Gratton, spokesman for Justice Minister Anne McLellan, said she had not yet seen the request, but doubted an exemption could be granted "before public policy changes take place. You can expect that it will take some time to respond," Mr. Gratton said. Ms. McLellan has said recently that she supports a public debate on the legalization question.

Meanwhile, law enforcers say they don't intend to turn a blind eye to the buyers clubs - nor will they go after them with all their might.

Toronto police Det. Rick Chase, of the city's drug squad, let out a laugh when told of the plan to run buyers clubs. One club is already open for business in Toronto.

"There are some very stupid people out there, aren't there?" Det. Chase said. "The unfortunate thing is, until the law is changed, it's still against the law to possess this stuff." (Yes, it is really "stupid" to care about the sick and dying. Why, you could get crucified for that sort of thing. Lord knows.)

Still, he said, the police have "worse problems" to deal with such as "heroin and crack addicts dropping on a daily basis." His squad will investigate if it receives a complaint and the address of a buyers club, but it won't comb the city just to make an example of the operation.

'I don't believe that we will be going out on a witch-hunt," said Cpl. Marc Richer of the RCMP. "If you tell me there's a pot (club) on the corner, and 350 grams of heroin next door-guess where we're going?"