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Cancer patient in legal limbo
November 9, 2010 - thespec.com
Martin Kaneva has been breaking the law each time he uses marijuana to
ease the symptoms of his stomach cancer, even though he has a doctor’s
prescription for the weed.
Kaneva, former executive chef at Carmen’s Banquet Centre, is entitled
to what’s known as a medical marijuana licence from Health Canada, but
has been caught in a bureaucratic runaround and massive wait list since
a Toronto internist prescribed the drug in June.
An increasing number of Canadians are caught in Kaneva’s circumstance —
although the exact number on the wait list is not known. MP Ujjal
Dosanjh, federal Liberal health critic, says “the problem appears to be
widespread.”
“Forcing people who require medical marijuana to remain without
licences because of delays effectively makes criminals out of
patients,” said Dosanjh, a former federal health minister.
“It’s important to understand that if there is a legitimate need for
medical marijuana, which is sanctioned by Canadian law, it is the
government’s obligation to make that process as smooth as possible.
Many of these cases have a very tortured history.”
Kaneva, 39, who has a feeding tube and a 50-50 chance of surviving, was
diagnosed in December with metastatic gastric cancer requiring an
extensive course of chemotherapy and radiation — treatment he hoped to
manage in part with legally obtained marijuana.
But he’s now almost finished the treatment, and Health Canada has still
not delivered the promised permission for him to use marijuana for
medical purposes — a licensing procedure that is supposed to take eight
to 10 weeks. Late Friday, a Health Canada official called Kaneva to say
the licence would be expedited by courier by the end of the day, but it
still had not arrived Monday — almost five months after Kaneva applied.
So to stimulate his appetite, ease his depression and offset the pain
while he waits, Kaneva continues to buy and use marijuana illegally,
grinding it into a powder, then burning it in a vaporizer that converts
the weed into an easily inhaled mist.
“This is about my rights,” the once-energetic Kaneva said.
“It’s not like I’m here partying. I’m medicating.”
Kaneva’s battle to get the authorization has included calls and
callbacks from Health Canada asking for documentation he’d already
sent, and dozens of broken promises to send the licence in what the
government says should be a much easier process for those with
end-of-life conditions or certain diseases, including cancer.
Health Canada does have “a temporary delay in processing applications,”
said spokesperson Christelle Legault, “due to a sharp rise in the
number of applications received in recent months,” although application
numbers are not provided.
As of January 2010, the last month for which Health Canada provided
figures, 4,884 Canadians — 1,873 of them in Ontario — had been
authorized for medical marijuana under categories that allow patients
to grow weed themselves or receive it from a supplier contracted by the
federal government.
Kaneva said he intends to grow his own, in a non-residential location
approved by a landlord, in small amounts that would save him money and
aggravation.
Right now, someone has to drive him to Toronto to buy weed at a cost of
about $200 an ounce from a compassion club he does not want to identify
because the transaction is also illegal. He said he uses about two
ounces a week, in small amounts — sometimes every hour — to give him
the energy and pain relief to eat, shower or occasionally take a walk.
“The only other drugs I take right now are an acid reducer for my
stomach and antibiotics for an infection around the feeding tube in my
stomach,” Kaneva said, noting that without the weed he would be limited
to antinausea drugs and prescription pain relievers.
I applied for my MMAR in June, right after my doctor approved medical marijuana for me. I was supposed to get my license by September. I still don't have it.
On the other hand, I was immediately granted membership to my local compassion centre upon presenting a letter from my doctor. But this is all technically illegal and I still run the risk of prosecution.
Something is broke in the Canadian medical marijuana system.
Thats good that you have a compassionate doctor. I dont think my doctor would be interested in signing my MMAR forms. Ive told him it helps with my back pain but he doesn't seem too interested.
This whole MMAR situation is completely bullshit anyway. Its still illegal, even with an MMAR, to extract your THC into butter and eat it with food. You would technically have to grind the whole buds and just mix that with your food (which is not very palatable) to legally eat your weed. Great news for lung cancer patients who are left with few options but to eat or smoke/vaporize... No forms of extracts are legal in Canada under any circumstances.
There have been some people in my area getting busted while waiting for their MMAR renewals, even though the police saw letters from Health Canada to the patients that they were waiting for their cards. They are still pressing charges anyway because it was illegal for even that short period of time. And they wonder why people dont respect them....