Home Summit Submissions Summary Links Email

“Why are you hurting sick people, Mr. Kwinter?”
Alison Myrden, MMAR Exemptee, Federal NDP Candidate, founder of www.themarijuanamission.com

There are several immediate issues that medicinal cannabis patients across the country are now facing. The first issue is the need for patients to be able to grow en masse. In October 2003, the Ontario Court of Appeal ordered Health Canada to change their Medical Marijuana Access Regulations (MMAR) to permit a designated person to grow for multiple patients. Health Canada has refused to comply.

Another issue that has yet to be address is that fact that patients need to have unlimited strain selection. Not every strain works for every medical condition. Since the medical establishment has been unwilling to help us patients have had to become botanists in order to figure out what works, and what doesn't. Sometimes medical patients that are inadvertently busted are accused of growing for diversion for the black market, when they are simply trying to find the best medicine for them

There has been talk of the introduction of mandatory minimums for growing cannabis. Often-times medical patients rely on donations from the black market. Mandatory minimum sentence for cultivation would hurt our growers, and put my supply of medicine in jeopardy. (Not to mention that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms might disallow this type of arbitrary usurpation of judicial discretion.)

Police, in their futile push to eradicate grow-ops are jeopardizing patient grow operations as many medical users are not registered patients. Despite court orders, scientific evidence and massive public outrage, Health Canada has yet to accept cannabis as a legal medicine. The Office of Cannabis Medical Access (OCMA) is not addressing the medical marijuana community's issues. Doctors won't sign the needed medical forms due to these very stiff and somewhat impenetrable system issues. The Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) has threatened to cancel malpractice insurance coverage of physicians who prescribe cannabis. Doctors are not educated enough in medical cannabis, despite reams of evidence of it's benefits from around the world.

As a medical patient, I believe that most of the information in the Green Tide report is false. There is very little truth behind this project, the aim of which is, I believe to arrest, embarrass and incarcerate people who choose to utilize Cannabis. Medical users present no more of a threat when we do choose to grow our medicine, than people who choose to grow tomatoes or geraniums.

Police consider a group of five or more people to be "organized crime." Whether these people have an absolute need for this plant or not, they are criminals automatically.

Ontario Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Monte Kwinter must realize that the proposals for mandatory minimums will only serve to incarcerate those who are hurting no one.

I am running for the federal New Democratic Party in the next election. If elected, my job as an NDP Member of Parliament would be to completely eradicate and repeal these harmful laws. I will do my best to make this a non-issue for sick and dying Canadians and I will do my best to have the Medical Marijuana Access Regulations (MMAR) removed for all of the 400,000 Canadians who are sick and dying and choose to utilize marijuana as medicine.

Sincerely,
Alison Myrden
www.themarijuanamission.com
Federal NDP Nominee for Candidacy, Burlington (Ontario)