« MPs support plans for radical new laws on drugs | Main | Motion – Re: Decriminalization of Marijuana »
Compassion or crime
By Hempology | April 16, 2002
Harrietsfield father who sells marijuana to people in pain doesn’t think he?s doing anything wrong. The police don’t agree.
By BEVERLEY WARE (The Daily News)
Sunday, April 07, 2002
John Cook, a Harrietsfield father of two, has started a club. The members don’t pay a fee, but must supply a doctor’s note. Most don’t like to come to his house, so Cook arranges to meet them.
He has brochures at a few local businesses and hospitals advertising his e-mail and cellphone number. He”s even written to the federal Health and Justice departments telling them what he”s doing. Which could be dangerous, because what he”s doing is illegal.
“I”m trying to be as open as I can,” says Cook. “We”re trying to keep everything above board; we”re not trying to hide anything, but there are a lot of people who are still very paranoid and scared of the police, so when you see me out, I”m usually by myself.”
Cook”s Compassion Club sells marijuana ” at cost ” to people who say they need it for medical reasons. It”s the Halifax chapter of Cannabis Buyers Club of Canada, one of about a dozen across Canada, and the only one east of Quebec.
He says he has 25 members, most suffering from multiple sclerosis, AIDS, HIV or work-related injuries.
He sells the marijuana for about $10 a gram, about the going rate on the street. Members buy anywhere from 20 grams a week to three grams for a month, depending on their condition. Only one customer goes to his house to pick up his supply, the rest Cook meets at an arranged location.
He doesn”t grow the marijuana himself, but says it is organically grown in Nova Scotia. Cook says he doesn”t make a penny from the sales; he”s simply performing a service for people in pain.
Cook says he checks into members as best he can to ensure they want the drug for a medical reason, and that they”re not undercover cops.
The club has rules; patients can”t resell the marijuana and they must have a letter from their doctor stating their disability or illness. Cook contacts the doctor to confirm the diagnosis and ensure other treatments failed.
“If they ask me (why I”m calling) I tell them,” but most know what”s he doing and don”t question it, he says.
He started the club to help patients who don”t get relief from traditional painkillers but haven”t yet received government exemptions.
Last summer, Health Canada made it legal for people suffering from the same illnesses Cook”s customers have to grow or possess marijuana. But his customers don”t have the exemption, which makes what he”s doing illegal.
Halifax Regional Police say if they can prove Cook is selling marijuana, he”ll be charged.
“We will shut it down if it”s not legal; it”s as simple as that,” says police spokeswoman Judy Pal.
Police know Cook wanted to set up a store to sell marijuana. “If we have information someone is selling illegal substances, we would take action as we do with other people that sell marijuana,” Pal said. “Whether they”re set up as a storefront or not, they would be charged with possession for the purpose of distribution.”
Cook says he still plans to set up a store to sell hemp products ” which are legal ” as well as pot.
He knows he”s putting himself on the line, and his wife isn”t happy about it, but Cook says he”s frustrated by the red tape.
He says patients prescribed antibiotics can get them at the pharmacy, and it should be just as easy for them to get marijuana.
“My suggestion would be to legalize it and let recreational users purchase from these regulated clubs, and they would subsidize the medical users and it would be taxed.”
Cook is unable to work and smokes marijuana regularly for back and neck pain caused by a dislocated vertebrae. He says he is in chronic pain and prescriptions from his doctor zapped his energy.
“I had no energy, I”d be on the couch sleeping all day,” says the stay-at-home father of a nine and four-year-old.
He says marijuana has dulled his pain without the damaging side effects of prescription pills. He has applied for an exemption from the federal government allowing him to smoke pot for medical reasons, but hasn”t received it yet.
Mike Patriquen of Middle Sackville has an exemption. He grows his own marijuana and smokes two grams every day for nerve damage in his neck.
It took his doctor nine months of filling in forms to get that exemption, but Patriquen said he wanted it because he was on such high doses of a prescription painkiller.
“They prevented me from doing anything. It took me six weeks to wean off them; it was dreadful.”
Patriquen, who ran unsuccessfully for the Marijuana Party in Nova Scotia, served 13 months in jail for growing a marijuana plant before he received his medical exemption.
He”s now running for the Marijuana Party in a federal byelection in Newfoundland.
Topics: Articles | Comments Off
Comments are closed.