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Letter from Ted to Susan Fletcher, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch
By Hempology | January 9, 2006
The following letter is a response to Susan Fletcher’s letter written to us. It was published in the last edition.
Susan Fletcher January 3, 2006
Assistant Deputy Minister
Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch
Thank you for writing back to me after my Feb. 3, 2005 letter. As you anticipated, the response you sent on July 27. 2005 did not give the answers I was looking for. There are several issues that are still outstanding.
Before I ask any more questions, I should give you an update about our court cases. The trial from the Feb. 19, 2003 raid concluded with all charges thrown out against the two men arrested due to lack of proof of knowledge and control.
An appeal was filed against my conviction for trafficking cannabis resin. After reading my arguments, the Federal Department of Justice decided that the judge should have allowed Health Canada’s analyst to testify and that a new trial should therefore be held. However, the Department of Justice went further and told the B.C. Court of Appeal that the government was unwilling to continue with a new trial, and
I was therefore granted another acquittal.
This means that after four police raids at the CBC of C there are no convictions for any trafficking offences, though the daily work of the group remains illegal. While we appreciate that the Canadian government has made some progress on this issue, they are mere baby steps. Until we see that the members of our club are receiving comparable services from the government, we will continue to operate the club and advocate on behalf of the members.
Some of our advocacy work has lead to the City of Victoria inviting Health Canada to explain to the city council how the MMAR works and what the intended impact of these regulations should be upon the community. The City of Victoria and the Victoria Police Department began making these requests in April 2002 and despite constant attempts by Council Secretary Sara Beaman to get a commitment from Health Canada, no meeting has yet occurred. It would be beneficial for the members of our club, as well as other affected levels of government, and citizens who care about sick vulnerable members of our community, to learn more about Health Canada’s programs.
Whether this meeting ever happens or not, it is obvious that more changes need to be made to the MMAR. Could you explain to us how amendments are made to the MMAR?
While the MMAR allows for “dried marijuana,” no mention is made of hashish or cooking with the plant. Many doctors and patients are concerned about smoking cannabis, so cooking the plant material and eating the herb seems like a reasonable option, especially given the extended pain relief generally experienced. If cooking with cannabis is illegal, should Health Canada not tell license holders they could be arrested for producing cannabis resin, a.k.a. hashish, or cannabis (THE) if they try?
The process of making hashish involves separating resin from the surface of the plant and concentrating the THC. This means the consumer smokes less tar and leaf material and more of the active healing cannibinoids.
You state that resin may pose a greater health risk because of the increased concentration of THC and uncertain quantities of THE in any products made with resin. In ten years of work in the field we have never heard of science backing your claim. Do you have any research about cannabis resin?
We want to know how you came to this conclusion because it is very important that smoking cannabis is not the only legal option available to chronically ill citizens.
Products containing high concentrations of THE only have possible negative effects if the consumer is unaware of the potency of the medicine and consumes too much. The same is true of most medicines, except the only real side effect here is loss of muscle control and sleep. Consistent high THE content in edible and smoking products provide significant pain relief with few side effects or risks compared to other drugs. Only extremely high levels of THE can cause great health risks. Experiments feeding rats massive amounts of THE, as some studies do, does not provide fruitful information. Any studies done with humans eating cannabis or smoking hashish for medical purposes prove the exact opposite of what you claim.
The book, Women and Cannabis: Medicine. Science and Sociology, by Ethan Russo, Melanie Dreher and Mary Lynn Mathre, The Haworth Press, 2002, has some excellent studies and commentary on the use of cannabis resin. Most ancient references to the medical benefits of cannabis are from cultures that usually cooked with cannabis. There is much anecdotal evidence for the benefits of eating cannabis or using cannabis resin for medical purposes, if you start looking at the existing current information.
Our club is conducting a research project which is intended to be a cost/ benefit analysis of medical cannabis use, comparing the herb to prescription drugs both economically and medically. We are preparing a report which condenses the information we are gathering from completed research forms. The research form is available at hempoIogy.com. posted Sept. 22, 2004. Our research project will provide ample anecdotal evidence of the benefits of eating cannabis and smoking cannabis resin. We will certainly send you our results as they become published.
We are also sending you the last few editions of our newsletter, which included a letter to David Anderson similar to the one we sent you regarding these issues and the letter you wrote to which we are responding here.
We understand you are bureaucrats with no real experience with cannabis, probably no personal incentive to see justice for the sick and with a political mob to answer to. However, as employees of the citizens of Canada you should be obliged to seek the truth, even if the government as a whole is unwilling to accept the reality of the war on cannabis. You have the potential to make great changes in the health and well- being of this country by embracing this herb as medicine.
Please respond to our three questions and feel free to call me at any time.
Sincerely,
Leon ‘Ted’ Smith
President of the International Hempology 101 Society
Topics: CD-8th, Winter 2006 | Comments Off
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