Canada to Pay for Military Veterans Medical Marijuana

By Canadian Press - Friday, May 15 2009

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• CANADA
 
• GOVERNMENT
 
• MEDICAL MARIJUANA
 
• VETERANS AFFAIRS

 

The military may strictly forbid marijuana use by its soldiers, but the federal government has decided to pay for medical cannabis for some veterans.

Veterans Affairs has reversed a previous ban, now saying it "may provide payment in relation to the associated costs of medically required marijuana to clients who have qualified."

Payments can be made only to veterans licensed by Health Canada to possess medical marijuana, and who buy government-certified cannabis produced on contract by a firm in Flin Flon, Man.

The policy change was approved last October, but is only now being communicated to veterans who require the product for pain management and other severe medical conditions.

About eight veterans licensed by Health Canada are having their medical marijuana bills picked up by taxpayers, said Janice Summerby, spokeswoman for Veterans Affairs.

She was unable to say immediately how much the new policy was costing the department.

"These guys (the federal government) want to stand up for veterans' rights," said Bruce Webb, a Comox, B.C., veteran who successfully pressed Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson for the about-face.

"They want to help."

Webb, a former air force corporal who received a medical discharge in 2002, said the new payment policy will cover the $490 monthly cannabis bill he faces while struggling on a disability pension.

He could not afford the cost of his daily three-gram marijuana medication, but now is renewing his expired Health Canada licence to take advantage of the payment program.

Webb, 46, said he learned of the change in a letter from Thompson last week, and is trying to get the word out to hundred of veterans he says could benefit.

Veterans Affairs has previously paid the costs of some synthetic forms of cannabis that have been certified as prescription drugs in Canada.

The Health Canada-approved marijuana, currently produced on contract by Prairie Plant Systems Inc., has been criticized as too weak and dry by some users.

But Webb praised the product, saying it makes an "amazing difference" in controlling pain caused by his sports injury from 1999.

Health Canada has been forced by a series of court decisions this decade to set up a program to license medical marijuana users, and to provide government-certified dope to users at a cost.

Patients have also been allowed to grow medical marijuana for themselves, or have someone else grow it for them under licence.

Health Canada, which eventually wants to phase out personal production, recently lost a court case over restrictions preventing licensed growers from serving more than one patient.

- Article from the Canadian Press on May 14, 2009.

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Veterans Affairs to Cover Cost of Cannabis

Bruce Webb, a Canadian war veteran living in Comox B.C., recently received a letter informing him of Veterans Affairs Canada’s new policy to cover the cost of medical cannabis. Webb enthusiastically expressed his gratitude to the Honourable Greg Thompson, P.C. M.P., Minister of Veterans Affairs, on YouTube.

The letter received by Webb states: “As a disability pensioner, you are only entitled to coverage of prescription drugs listed on Veterans Affairs Canada’s formularies. However, the Department may consider covering medications that are not on the list if an exceptional need for the product is demonstrated.

It may be of interest to know that the Department made changes to its policy with respect to the provision of medical marijuana, and may now cover the costs of this product for clients who have qualified under the MMAR, administered by Health Canada. In order to qualify for coverage of this non-listed product, a client must be approved by Health Canada, to possess and use marihuana for medical purposes; the product must be obtained from Health Canada in accordance with its requirements; and the client must have obtained pre-authorization from Veterans Affairs Canada.”

In the YouTube video, Webb says “It is a medication, it is a proved medication, it’s grown by the government of Canada, for the people of Canada, at taxpayers’ expense. All veterans, anyone that needs this stuff should have a right to do it. This man is a compassionate member of parliament. Mr. Thompson, thank you”.

Canadians for Safe Access, a patients’ advocacy organization, also commends Veterans Affairs Canada for this new policy. “For many, this medicine is more effective than the available alternatives, with fewer negative side-effects. It is so important that the cost for this medicine is covered for those in need,” stated Rielle Capler, a director of Canadians for Safe Access. Veterans use cannabis for various medical conditions and symptoms including chronic and phantom limb pain, sleep disturbance, brain injuries, Post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.

Webb had been ordering cannabis from Health Canada between 2004 and 2006, but Health Canada cut him off because he was unable to pay for it. Canadians for Safe Access has previously encouraged the Health Canada to cover costs after finding out that many people who have ordered the government's supply are unable to afford it and have been cut off from accessing this sole legal source.

There are still many barriers to accessing Health Canada’s medical cannabis program. Of an estimated 400,000 to one million people who use cannabis medically in Canada, only about 3,000 currently have a license from Health Canada. A small fraction of those order their cannabis through Health Canada. Many who have tried the government supply have deemed it inadequate.

A recent federal court ruling has ordered changes to the Medical Marijuana Access Regulations that could end the government’s monopoly supply. To date, Health Canada has not complied with the ruling. In the meantime, the vast majority of those using cannabis medicinally, and those who supply them, are subject to criminal sanctions that would include mandatory minimum sentences under the Conservative’s proposed Bill C-15.

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In Montana, A Bid To End Medical Use Of Marijuana

he Montana House of Representatives voted Thursday to repeal the state’s six-year-old medical marijuana law. The 63-to-37 vote, largely along party lines in the Republican-controlled chamber, pushed Montana to the front lines of a national debate about social policy, economics and health as medical marijuana use has surged in the 15 states and the District of Columbia that allow its use.

“We were duped,” said the House speaker, Mike Milburn, a Republican and sponsor of the repeal bill, who said he thought that the arguments about medical use had been a pretext for encouraging recreational use and creating a path to full legalization. He said he feared gang drug wars in Montana’s cities and debilitation of its youth.

“This bill says, Shut down everything — it’s gone way too far,” Mr. Milburn told the chamber before the vote.

The State Senate, also controlled by the Republicans, will also consider the measure, and House members will have an opportunity to vote on it again as early as Friday before sending it there. If passed by the Senate it would face an uncertain fate on the desk of Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat.

Mr. Schweitzer has said he believes the laws need to be tightened, but he has not taken a position on repeal. His spokeswoman, Sarah Elliott, said in an e-mail, “The business has gotten out ahead of the regulatory environment, and we need to build some boundaries.”

But in the voices of the lawmakers on Thursday, the weight and passion of the issue were evident.

“We tried prohibition,” said Representative Diane Sands, a Democrat. “Marijuana has been in our community for years; it is not going away,” she added. “We have to deal with that fact.”

Other states and cities are also wrestling with the question of what medical marijuana is, or should be. New Mexico’s new Republican governor, Susana Martinez, expressed interest in repeal this year. Colorado is formulating some of the most detailed rules in the nation for growing and selling. Lawmakers in New Jersey have jousted with the governor over regulation.

And although party line positions have defined the issue in Montana, with Republicans mostly lined up in favor of restriction or repeal, there is widespread agreement among legislators and residents that medical marijuana has become something very different than it was originally envisioned to be.

Sixty-two percent of voters approved the use of medical marijuana in a statewide referendum in 2004. But the real explosion of growth came only in the last year, after the federal Department of Justice said in late 2009 that medical marijuana would not be a law enforcement priority.

Since then, the numbers of patients have quadrupled to more than 27,000 — in a state of only about 975,000 people — and millions of dollars have been invested in businesses that grow or supply the product.

Here in Helena, at least 16 other bills in addition to the repeal measure have been filed or drafted since the legislative session began last month, calling for everything from a marijuana tax to another voter referendum.

“I’ve lobbied every session since ’81, and I’ve never seen an issue as fluid as this,” said Tom Daubert, an advocate for medical marijuana and an author of the 2004 ballot measure. “It changes by the minute, by the hour, by the day.”

But in a huge, mostly rural state where a libertarian, keep-government-off-my-back spirit runs deep, the debate is also different in temper and geography than in other states. Marijuana, many people here say, has intensified suspicions between the two Montanas that are zipped together by the Rocky Mountains — conservative ranching and agriculture country to the east, liberal college towns and tourist communities to the west.

The change in the pattern and scale of medical marijuana use across Montana has coincided with a seismic change in politics here, where Republicans surged from a 50-50 tie in the House before last November’s election to a 68-to-32 majority now. Republicans have a 28-to-22 majority in the Senate.

Several House members who spoke against repeal said the Legislature, by declining in past years to take up bills that would have regulated or controlled medical marijuana when its use was not so widespread, had only itself to blame.

“We had many years to regulate something that 62 percent of Montanans wanted, and we chose to do nothing,” said Representative Pat Noonan, a Democrat. “Don’t vote against the citizens.”

A version of this article appeared in print on February 11, 2011, on page A13 of the New York edition.

Source: New York Times (NY)
Author: Kirk Johnson
Published: February 11, 2011
Copyright: 2011 The New York Times Company
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/

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Federal agency proclaims medical use for marijuana By Kyle Daly

As federal battles over medical marijuana across the country heat up, a statement from one federal agency may be a huge asset for medical marijuana dispensaries that have been targeted by the various arms of the U.S. Department of Justice and the IRS.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is a division of the National Institutes of Health, which is itself one of the 11 component agencies that make up the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Last week, the NCI quietly added to its treatment database a summary of marijuana’s medicinal benefits, including an acknowledgment that oncologists may recommend it to patients for medicinal use.

The summary cites clinical trials demonstrating the benefit of medical marijuana. Part of it reads:

The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. In the practice of integrative oncology, the health care provider may recommend medicinal Cannabis not only for symptom management but also for its possible direct antitumor effect.

Although 34 states have passed laws recognizing marijuana’s medicinal properties and 15 states, plus Washington, D.C., have legalized it for medical use, this is the first time a federal agency has recognized it as medicine. Despite recent developments, Attorney General Eric Holder said in 2009 that the Justice Department would not raid medical marijuana facilities, but at no point did he acknowledge their legitimacy as distribution centers for medicine. A 2001 Supreme Court ruling, meanwhile, declared that medical use of marijuana cannot be considered in any federal court deliberating on a marijuana possession or distribution case.

The new NCI assessment could have an impact on the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, the harshest possible drug classification, which has resulted in a prison population in which 1 in 8 prisoners in the U.S. is locked up for a marijuana-related offense. One of the principal criteria for a Schedule I determination is that there be “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.” The U.S. Justice Department may have a hard time maintaining that claim if challenged, considering a federal agency now recognizes marijuana’s medical use in cancer treatment.

From the other side of the argument comes a new white paper (PDF) from the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) censuring the prescription of marijuana by doctors in states where its medical use is legal. The ASAM takes issue with the fact that marijuana is not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and therefore not subject to the same standards as other medicines. The white paper also cites as a health risk the fact that the most common method of using marijuana is smoking it.

Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, believes that the ASAM paper is a direct response to the new NCI evaluation and that ASAM physicians have a vested interest in keeping marijuana illegal in all cases.

“These doctors are making a fortune off of marijuana prohibition,” he says. “They have a financial, proprietary interest to maintain the status quo.”

St. Pierre argues that addiction specialists would be losing a major revenue source if marijuana were legalized, decriminalized or simply recognized as medicine in federal court. Without the massive number of arrests and convictions based on marijuana-related offenses, there would be a sharp drop in the number of patients referred to a doctor for marijuana addiction counseling by judges.

“The NCI statement? Fascinating. The ASAM reply? Pathetic. And predictable,” says St. Pierre.

Dr. Andrea Barthwell, former president of ASAM, claimed in an ASAM press release that the white paper had its origins in a concern for doctor liability and responsibility.

“Allowing cannabis to circumvent FDA approval sets a dangerous precedent and puts us on a slippery slope,” she said.

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Why anxiety is running high in Colorado’s medical marijuana industry?

Written on May 20, 2011 by Jack Pot in Jack Pot

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MMBA meeting has industry members flocking together

Jack Pot
All Rights Reserved
May 20, 2011

A recent Medical Marijuana Business Alliance (MMBA) meeting had many people wondering what exactly is around the corner for Colorado’s cannabis industry.  The reason is real simple–rules and regulations.  July 1, 2011 is the deadline for  dispensaries, cultivators, and infused products to get their act together.

“This period of time seems real strange because nobody knows who’s going to be left standing after July 1st” said Katie, who owns a cannabis consulting  firm looking to help the industry with compliance.

Many industry members throw figures out as high as 50% of the cannabis industry will disappear this year in Colorado due to compliance.  This means out of approximately 900 licensed centers 450 will be left standing to help 130,000 patients.

Other comments by dispensary owners included feeling nervous of what to expect when Colorado’s enforcement division begins enforcing rules that might result in fines and sanctions against centers who fail to comply.

Compliance means security systems, hours of operation, accounting, signage, inventory management and a long list of rules that will overwhelm even the best of them.  In a recent article, medical marijuana attorney Robert Corry was quoted as saying it’s more difficult  opening a dispensary  than getting your law degree.

The evening event attracted approximately 150 people bring together the who’s who in Colorado’s cannabis industry including attorneys Robert Corry, Sean McAllister,  organizations like Cannapages, MMAPA, Greenpoint Insurance, CSSB, and Biotrack THC were represented.

Infused products and cultivator Bob said “I’m in so deep financially, that I have no other choice but to  be organized and plan accordingly in order to get through this period of time.”  In addition, a lot of hard work and fortitude would be a good pill to swallow about now.

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US Attorney: Growing, Using Medical Pot Still Felony

Maine’s U.S.  attorney has told state lawmakers that Maine’s medical marijuana law contradicts federal law, and that the U.S.  Department of Justice reserves the right to prosecute Mainers who cultivate and distribute the drug, even if they have state approval.

U.S.  Attorney Thomas E.  Delahanty sent a letter, dated Monday, in response to a request from the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, which recently endorsed changes to the Maine Medical Marijuana Act.

Committee members met briefly with Maine Attorney General William Schneider on Wednesday afternoon to discuss legal issues.  They are expected to move forward with the amendments.

“It changes nothing.  We’re still working on going forward with it,” said Rep.  Deborah Sanderson, R-Chelsea, a committee member and the sponsor of the new medical marijuana bill.

The bill, which has not yet been considered by the Legislature, would make it optional for medical marijuana patients to register with the state, among other things.  All patients must register under current law.

Delahanty said in his letter that it is intended to clarify any confusion about the federal government’s position on state medical marijuana laws.

Instead, it highlights the legal gray area surrounding the expansion of medical marijuana laws around the country.

U.S.  attorneys in numerous other states, including Vermont and Rhode Island, have issued similar letters in recent weeks, warning state officials that medical marijuana use remains a federal crime.  Parts of the letters are even identical from state to state.

Delahanty’s letter says, “While the ( Justice ) department does not focus its limited resources on seriously ill individuals who use marijuana as part of a medically recommended treatment regimen in compliance with state law …  we will enforce the ( Controlled Substances Act ) vigorously against individuals and organizations that participate in unlawful manufacturing and distribution activity involving marijuana, even if such activities are permitted under state law.”

Delahanty’s letter, and those from other U.S.  attorneys, says landlords and other individuals who support marijuana cultivation and distribution face potential legal action and property seizure.

Regarding the latest legislative proposal in Augusta, Delahanty wrote, “The department is concerned about recent efforts to amend Maine’s Medical Marijuana Act, as the legislation involves conduct contrary to federal law and threatens the federal government’s efforts to regulate controlled substances.”

His letter does not specify which parts of the pending legislation are of concern.  Delahanty was traveling and could not be reached Wednesday.

It’s unclear why U.S.  attorneys around the country appear to be taking a tougher stance against medical marijuana, although the letters have been written in response to requests from officials in each of the states, not initiated by the Department of Justice, said Dan Riffle, a legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C.

“There are a lot of people in the medical marijuana movement who are upset about it,” Riffle said.  “When we’re talking about federal felonies, anything is going to make people nervous.”

He said the tough language in the letters has not coincided with any change in enforcement or any crackdown on state-approved medical marijuana suppliers.

“I’m not aware of any dispensaries that have been raided that are complying with state laws,” he said.

Rep.  Sanderson said Maine’s law and her pending bill are responsible, and careful not to raise concerns for federal drug agents.  For example, the current bill would ban collectives that come together to cultivate and distribute the drug.

She also said that Delahanty’s letter and the threat of federal crackdowns show why many medical marijuana patients don’t want to be required to have their names on a state list of users.

“There are a lot of patients out there who could benefit from this form of treatment yet they fear engaging in the use of it …  because they just don’t want to be on a database,” she said.

Alysia Melnik, public policy counsel with the Maine Civil Liberties Union, said Delahanty’s letter probably will not affect Maine’s laws, and she hopes it does not frighten patients or caregivers.

“It’s very, very clear that the state of Maine continues to have a right to decide whether or not to criminalize” medical marijuana use, she said.  “We’ve made the decision since 1999 not to criminalize patients and the people caring for them.”

Source: Morning Sentinel (Waterville, ME)
Copyright: 2011 MaineToday Media, Inc.
Contact:
http://www.onlinesentinel.com/readerservices/Send_a_Letter_to_the_Editor-MS.html
Website: http://www.onlinesentinel.com/
Author: John Richardson

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Union Township planners recommend OK of medical marijuana law

By MARK RANZENBERGER
TheMorningSun.com

Union Township planners Wednesday recommended that the township board adopt a zoning ordinance to regulate where and how medical marijuana-related businesses could operate in the township.

After a public hearing at which no one spoke for or against the proposed law, the planning commission voted 7-0 to move the process of adopting the law ahead. Township zoning administrator Woody Woodruff said the law could be up for final adoption by the township board as soon as mid-July.

Attorney Andria M. Ditschman of the Lansing-based Hubbard Law Firm, who helped the township planning commission draft the law, proposed a few technical changes in wording, but the proposed law is very similar to the draft she presented a month ago.

“My purpose is public health and safety,” said Woodruff, who likely would be performing inspections of the businesses to make sure they comply with the law. “I’m not qualified to be a policing agent.”

Planning Commission Chairman Phil Squattrito said the township’s role would be to make sure that the process of growing the herb was done safely.

“We’re making sure they don’t have crazy wiring or they’re producing a lot of mold,” Squattrito said. The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act requires that marijuana for medicinal use be cultivated in a locked, enclosed space, which generally means indoors under artificial light.

Many growers use hydroponics, and the damp conditions can lead to mold.

The state law allows registered patients to grow up to 12 plants for their own use, and licensed caregivers to grow up to 12 plants each for up to five patients. The proposed zoning law would allow indoor marijuana cultivation of up to 72 plants.

Dispensaries would be permitted only in business zones, and large-scale growing operations only in industrial zones under the current plan. Access to either kind of operation would be strictly limited.

The growing of marijuana for medicinal use would be considered a so-called “accessory use” under the township’s residential zoning law.

Actual use of medical marijuana would be prohibited at dispensaries, growing facilities and so-called “marijuana clubs,” which are envisioned as educational operations. Use of medical marijuana would take place only in patients’ homes.

Dispensaries and marijuana clubs would have to be separated from each other by at least 1,000 feet, and from schools, churches, day care centers, parks and residentially-zoned property by at least 500 feet. For growing facilities, the separation would increase to 1,500 feet from each other and 1,000 feet from the other uses.

Woodruff said the Isabella County Planning Commission would review the proposal, then send it to the township board for adoption. The county planners are expected to see the proposal yet this month.

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