By: Erikush Growski
There has been some bad winds blowing across the stinky Detroit River. Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and his conservative right-winged agenda, has now pushed through new restrictions on Canada’s medical marijuana patients. They will not be allowed to grow for themselves anymore. In addition, the current government licensed facility in Manitoba which supplied patients who could not grow for themselves, is being closed. This new change is to be in effect April 1, 2014.
Canada, as small as it’s population is, has more than 30,000 medical marijuana patients who are now left with few options to obtain the much needed medication. Apparently, the plan of the administration is to license local facilities to grow and dispense marijuana. Very little has been said as to where these will be and how accessible.
It is ascertained by Canadians that marijuana for medical use will become much to expensive to obtain and use as a treatment for the average/lower income Canadian. The concern stated by the government is that too much overage is being sold on the black market and patients are growing more than needed and selling it to non-patients. So the government’s solution is to take growing rights away and make it too expensive to obtain for those in need?
I am saddened by this as Canada, in many ways, is more progressive than the U.S. A movement in this direction is a win for law enforcement agencies (more money in fees, fines, and arrests!), but a blow for the average bloke caught up in this political mess. The newly-licensed facilities will supposedly be highly monitored and regulated. However, instead of using tax dollars for that, just require any grower to submit to inspections and pay for them; which in turn would require them to be within proper limits and in compliance with all fire safety codes. That must be too simple a solution than to deny patients medication and develop a new sector of government. Poor Canadians. Your bacon is really ham and your medical marijuana program is really bullshit.
