< FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE > VANCOUVER, BC, NOVEMBER 15th, 2014 — Cannabis in Canada wishes to publicly stress the importance of the appeal and the cross appeal of plaintiffs Neil Allard, Tanya Beemish, David Herbert, and Shawn Davey, on the matter of addressing the errors and oversights of the March 21st, 2014, Federal Court ordered injunction. The proceedings are set for hearing at the Pacific Centre, 701 West Georgia Street, 6th Floor, Vancouver, British Columbia, commencing at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, November 24, 2014 for a duration of four hours. BACKGROUND Access to Medicine As mandated by the Canadian Health Act, whether on the provincial or federal level, the role of the State in Canada is to ensure patients receive the health care they require. When responding to medical cannabis patients, Canadas federal government has forgotten this fundamental duty. Rather than supporting patients, Health Canada continues to block reasonable access to their doctor-approved medicine while exposing medical cannabis patients to legal and criminal sanctions. Health Canadas flawed policy known as the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulation (MMPR), was formally introduced on April 1st, 2014. The transition from the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) to the MMPR program represents a substantial change in direction for the supply and acquisition of medical marihuana in Canada. If the MMPR regulations are enforced as written, all licensed patients’ personal production and caregiver assisted production of cannabis (their “medicine”) will be shutdown. Instead, all patients will be forced to obtain their medicine from a licensed producer or LP, at a drastically increased cost. By Health Canadas own estimate, the cost will increase from $5.00 per gram to $8.80 per gram.This amounts to an annual $5,000 increase for patients on the average dosage.The average dose is 18.5 grams-a-day, based on all legal permits, which is a far cry from the 5 gram-a day-limit the feds try to impose. Current LPs are advertising rates from $9-$14 per gram, well beyond the scope of affordability for most users, whom statistics show. 70% of patients are on low-income pensions or income assistance.There are only 21 LPs and only a handful have enough inventory to handle an order if a patient needed it. The Appeal and Cross Appeal on November 24th, 2014 As of March 21st, 2014, an injunction was granted by Justice Manson at the Federal BC Court of Appeal. It is argued by the plaintiff’s Attorney John W. Conroy, Q.C., that many medicinal marihuana patients’ rights were not fully protected by the court-ordered injunction, which preserved the “regulatory option” for those authorized under the former MMAR regulatory regime to possess a personal production license. The Crown (Attorney General of Canada) is on trial and the defendant in this matter. The injunction has now been appealed by the Crown and John W. Conroy, Q.C., has issued a cross appeal. While it is true that the Crown is the defendant in the pleadings, this is a constitutional challenge to the law, as enacted by Parliament, and so they are Respondents to the allegations of the law being in violation of the Constitution. View the court order here. The Plaintiffs of the cross appeal argue that Justice Manson made errors while instating the injunction on the following items: The 150g carry limit is being contested. Many patients require and carry ‘over’ 150g / day permits. Those that have moved, or have changed their address will now lose their Federal Court injunction protection, allowing patients to continue to grow their own medicinal cannabis. Dates for injunction implementation remain in question Sept 30th or March 21st as accepted by the Attorney General ABOUT JASON WILCOX: Cannabis in Canada Founding Director Jason Wilcox will be made available to the media for commentary and insight into the appeal and the cross appeal of plaintiffs Neil Allard, Tanya Beemish, David Herbert, and Shawn Davey, on the matter of addressing the errors and oversights of the March 21st, 2014, Federal Court ordered injunction. Mr. Wilcox is founder of the independent media and community organization Cannabis in Canada (CinC), as well as the co-founder of the MMAR Coalition against Repeal. CinC provides a forum where like-minded cannabis patients gather to collaborate on instructional growing techniques, discover the latest news, events and political debates regarding the free cannabis movement, and a platform in which to discover accurate research information pertaining to the positive attributes and medicinal characteristics of cannabis. The MMAR DPL/PPL Coalition Against Repeal is a coalition of over 6,000 members fighting for preservation of certain provisions of the MMAR. The Coalition was modeled and founded by Jason Wilcox to address the serious problems in Health Canadas newly proposed regulations MMPR or Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations. Contact : [email protected] for all media inquiries. Tamara J.N. Haasen Communications Director, Cannabis in Canada Society 2574 St. Clair Ave West Unit 1 Suite #181 Toronto, On, M6N 1L8
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 14:22:08 +0000
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