Binky
05-10-2005, 08:27 PM
Stakeholder Advisory Committee on Medical Marihuana
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, May 5, 2003.
On May 12, 2003, Canada's largest group of legal cannabis users and growers will present their demands to Health Canada at a meeting in Montreal. It will be at the Office of Cannabis Medical Access' (OCMA) Stakeholder Advisory Committee meeting at the Delta Centre Ville (777 University Street) on the 12th and 13th of May starting at 9am. The presentation will be conducted in the Versaille Room.
The OCMA Advisory Committee was formed in the fall of 2002 with the intent of proposing changes to the MMAR. Unfortunately, the patients - 'exemptees' and 'licencees' have never been directly consulted during this advisory process.
This is the third time that the committee has met, and it is the second meeting since Honourable Ontario Superior Court Justice Sidney Lederman declared the Health Canada program unconstitutional for only giving the "illusion of access" to medicinal cannabis. Health Canada has until July 9th to put a distribution system in place, otherwise the federal laws concerning the personal possession of cannabis will be struck down.
Health Canada's Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) will be given a list of demands and concerns during the May 12th meeting by a group of patients from across Canada. The group, called the 'Medusers', would like Health Canada to address the following concerns and demands to make the program more effective and relevant:
1. Inclusion of 2 permanent representatives on the Stakeholder Advisory Committee, nominated and elected by the exemptees and licencees in the OCMA program.
2. Begin immediate distribution of the PPS cannabis to exemptees.
3. Immediate removal of the overly burdensome registration and renewal requirements.
4. Legal amnesty for all legitimate users, growers and distributors of medicinal cannabis.
5. Financial restitution to cover the cost of therapeutic cannabis.
6. The immediate addressing of the Lederman/Hitszig decision and it's consequences on the program.
"The courts have said that this program is unconstitutional. Health Canada has yet to address the very urgent needs of the 1000 Canadians signed up under the MMAR (Marijuana Medical Access Regulations)" says Philippe Lucas, an elected representative for the Medusers group.
"In over 3 years and millions of taxpayer dollars spent on the OCMA, Health Canada has never supplied a gram, joint or seed to a single suffering Canadian. It is time for Health Canada and Minister McLellan to live up to the compassionate nature of the program by implementing the immediate distribution of the Prairie Plant Systems cannabis, rather than forcing critically and chronically ill Canadians onto the streets to access their medicine."
Medusers Press/Media Contact information:
Canada western rep: Philippe Lucas (Victoria, BC)
Phone: (250) 884-9821
Email: phil@drugsense.org
Canada central rep: Alison Myrden (Burlington, ON)
Phone: (905) 681-8287
Email: myalison@cogeco.ca
Canada eastern rep: Debbie Stultz-Giffin (Bridgetown, NS)
Phone: (902) 655-2355
Email: cliff.giffin@ns.sympatico.ca
Sorry I was a little late getting this out there, just found it :D
http://www.medicalmarihuana.ca/meeting.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, May 5, 2003.
On May 12, 2003, Canada's largest group of legal cannabis users and growers will present their demands to Health Canada at a meeting in Montreal. It will be at the Office of Cannabis Medical Access' (OCMA) Stakeholder Advisory Committee meeting at the Delta Centre Ville (777 University Street) on the 12th and 13th of May starting at 9am. The presentation will be conducted in the Versaille Room.
The OCMA Advisory Committee was formed in the fall of 2002 with the intent of proposing changes to the MMAR. Unfortunately, the patients - 'exemptees' and 'licencees' have never been directly consulted during this advisory process.
This is the third time that the committee has met, and it is the second meeting since Honourable Ontario Superior Court Justice Sidney Lederman declared the Health Canada program unconstitutional for only giving the "illusion of access" to medicinal cannabis. Health Canada has until July 9th to put a distribution system in place, otherwise the federal laws concerning the personal possession of cannabis will be struck down.
Health Canada's Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) will be given a list of demands and concerns during the May 12th meeting by a group of patients from across Canada. The group, called the 'Medusers', would like Health Canada to address the following concerns and demands to make the program more effective and relevant:
1. Inclusion of 2 permanent representatives on the Stakeholder Advisory Committee, nominated and elected by the exemptees and licencees in the OCMA program.
2. Begin immediate distribution of the PPS cannabis to exemptees.
3. Immediate removal of the overly burdensome registration and renewal requirements.
4. Legal amnesty for all legitimate users, growers and distributors of medicinal cannabis.
5. Financial restitution to cover the cost of therapeutic cannabis.
6. The immediate addressing of the Lederman/Hitszig decision and it's consequences on the program.
"The courts have said that this program is unconstitutional. Health Canada has yet to address the very urgent needs of the 1000 Canadians signed up under the MMAR (Marijuana Medical Access Regulations)" says Philippe Lucas, an elected representative for the Medusers group.
"In over 3 years and millions of taxpayer dollars spent on the OCMA, Health Canada has never supplied a gram, joint or seed to a single suffering Canadian. It is time for Health Canada and Minister McLellan to live up to the compassionate nature of the program by implementing the immediate distribution of the Prairie Plant Systems cannabis, rather than forcing critically and chronically ill Canadians onto the streets to access their medicine."
Medusers Press/Media Contact information:
Canada western rep: Philippe Lucas (Victoria, BC)
Phone: (250) 884-9821
Email: phil@drugsense.org
Canada central rep: Alison Myrden (Burlington, ON)
Phone: (905) 681-8287
Email: myalison@cogeco.ca
Canada eastern rep: Debbie Stultz-Giffin (Bridgetown, NS)
Phone: (902) 655-2355
Email: cliff.giffin@ns.sympatico.ca
Sorry I was a little late getting this out there, just found it :D
http://www.medicalmarihuana.ca/meeting.html