Cannabis Health - [March/April Edition 2005]

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4 Cannabis Health

Editorial...............................................................6

Letters .................................................................6

Off the Wire ........................................................................................................8

Libby Davies MP Interview................................................................................9

Dutch Contrac ted Grower sues Governm ent ................................................12

Cannasat, Canadas Newest Cannabis Company........................................13

An Even Brighter Future - Toronto Hemp Comp any ...................................17

Patients Out of Time .......................................................................................18

Cannabis for the Manageme nt of Pain .........................................................21

Cancer Cure Cover Up ....................................................................................23

Human Hemp Health.......................................................................................25

Marijuana Policy Project..................................................................................28

Cannabis and Biochemical Balance ..............................................................31

Puff Mama, Cooking with Cannabis ..............................................................34

Inside

Cannabis Health

Cannabis Health is published six times a year. Allcontents copyright 2005 by Cannabis Health. CannabisHealth assumes no responsibility for any claims orrepresentations contained in this magazine or in anysubmission or advertisement, nor do they encouragethe illegal use of any of th e products advertised within.No portion of this magazine may be reproduced with-out the written consent of the publisher.

StaffSENIOR EDITOR , BARB ST. JEAN

[email protected]

EDITOR/ACCOUNTING BARB CORNELIUS

PRODUCTION BRIAN McANDREW

production@ cannabishealth.com

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[email protected]

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[email protected]

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GENERAL INQUIRIES [email protected]

Vo l u m e 3 I s s u e 3 , M a r c h / A p r i l 2 0 0 5

Cannabis HealthCannabis Health Magazine is the voice and the new

image of the responsible cannabis user. Th e publicationtreats cannabis as one plant and offers balanced coverage ofcannabis hemp and cannabis marijuana. Special attention isgiven to the therapeutic health benefits of this plant mademedicine. Regular contributors offer the latest on the evolv-ing Canadian cannabis laws, politics, and regulations. We

also offer professional advice on cannabis cooking, growingat home, human interest stories and scientific articles fromcountries throughout the world, keeping our readers intouch and informed. Cannabis Health is integrated with ourresource website, offering complete downloadable PDF

versions of all archived editions. www.cann abishealth.com

Subscribe TodayMasterCard / Visa Accepted

Call: 1 866 808 5566

Downtow n Location7457 3rd St., Grand Forks, BC Canada

Mailing Address: Box 1481Grand Forks BC Canada V0H 1H0

Phone: 250 442 5166Fax: 250 442 5167

Toll Free: 1 866 808 5566Email: [email protected]

Ontario Hemp Alliance CORRECTION

In our last issue the article on the Ontario Hemp Alliancecontained an error. In the paragraph: High yield 15,000 lbs peracre large seeds for dehulling low THC profile high essentialfatty acid profile seed heads at a height easy for harvesting of thegrain adequate straw yield for fibre weed resistance goodcolour an d taste.

15,000 lbs per acre should h ave read 1,500 lbs per acre. We wish

seed heads could grow that big - we apologize for any confusion thismay have caused. For more in formation please contact: www.ontar -iohempalliance.org

CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT

Congratulations to our most recent winners!!

Suetaz, Aylmer, ON w inn er of the Wong Bong pipe and a oneyear subscription

A.G, Campbellford, ON win ner of a one year subscription

C.S., Nanaimo, BC winner of the Pine Needle Basket byMtis artist, Danny Apukoses.

Thank you to all who submitted and subscribed. We appreciateall of you an d wish we could publish all we r eceive.

Cover photo courtesy of Houseof Commons Photographer


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6 Cannabis Health

Advocacy or Activism What are wefighting?

Activism is defined as the theory,doctrine, or pr actice of assertive, often organ-ized, action, such as mass demonstrations orstrikes, used as a means of opposing orsupporting a controversial issue, entity, orperson. Advocacy, on the other hand, is theprocess of committing continuous proactivesupport to an idea, person or cause to bringabout sustainable, long-term change.

The cannabis community is made up ofmany activist and advocates. Th is edition

includes only a few of the many organiza-tions and individuals who continue to chal-lenge the injustices forced upon citizens bythe irrational war on dru gs. Th is battle hasgone on for decades; many people have beencriminalized, marginalized and persecutedfor their commitment to fight for a dignifiedexistence for all. The best minds haveconcluded change must happen and we mustcontinu e the fight until it does. But who arewe fighting? Is it public perception, legisla-tion or corruption?

Many believe public perception is toblame. The general public, according to theopinion polls, is very supportive of themedical use of cannabis, but many are alsoun aware of most of the real problems. Th eyhear and read only whats been made avail-able through the mainstream sources andwhen the majority of information availableslants towards propaganda its no wonder theReefer Madness stigmatization is still soprevalent. Is t he pu blic at fault? I dont th ink

so, however the lack of accurate informationwould explain why cannabis reform is beingdebated on a misguided morals platform, asopposed to an accurate in tellectual one.

The Canadian Charter of Rights andFreedoms guarantees all Canadians freedom

of thought, belief, opinion, and expression,including freedom of the press and othercommunication media. We all have the rightto a voice. The questions we must askourselves are; why has there been such adistortion of fact, who is supplying it and forwhat pur pose?

Corruption is defined as: the act of chan g-ing, or of being changed, for the worse;departure from what is pure, simple, orcorrect. According to this Websters defini-

tion corruption could be to blame and weknow corruption is a by-product of prohibi-tion. Our laws should reflect our societysneed for a corruption free environment, yetthe opposite seems to be taking place when itcomes to the legislation governingcannabis. Canadas marijuan a lawswere declared unconstitutional bythe Ontario Court of Appeal inJuly 2000, yet marijuana is stillillegal and the police have againbeen given an enormous budget to

enforce these unjust laws.Police agencies in Canada are

mandated: To enforce laws,prevent crime, and maint ain peace,order and security. Their MissionStatement claims that they upholdthe principles of the CanadianCharter of Rights and Freedoms.The police are paid to enforce thelaw. They should not be paid to dothings like; unauthorized productanalysis on illegally confiscatedmedical cannabis sent through themail from a legal designatedgrower to a legal patient. Nor

should they be involved in the political druglaw debate or in th e supply of biased informa-

tion to the masses or our children. Conflictof interest would be in question if they were wouldnt it?

Laws are after all a piece of enacted legis-lation and the only people who can changelegislation are our elected politicians. Whoelects our politicians? The general public.What or who are we fighting?

Barb St.Jean

Our lives begin to end t he day we become silent

about things that matter.Martin Luther King, JR

E d i t o r i a l

Learning the h ard wayThe first time I ingested cannabis, I

learned the hard way how many cookies wastoo many t o eat. I used a m ilk chocolate chipcookie recipe and used th e powder I had beencollecting from my grinder to makecannabutter. I ate two cookies when the firstbatch came out of the oven, then I ate twowhen they were done and then later I justhad to have another and then another. As Iwas eating that last cookie, I realized I washaving a hard time swallowing it because mythroat was swelling up. I started making thecookies around 5pm and by 10pm, I was toostoned to function, so I went to bed.

I woke up at 4am with a sore, swollenthroat and the worst hangover Ive ever had.

I couldnt believe how awful I felt. I was aNews Admin at Marijuana.com at the time

and I was supposed to have 4 articlesprogrammed to the front page for 4:20am. Icouldnt get my eyes to focus, so I didnt getthe news posted. Thankfully, potheads areunderstanding about first time eating adven-tures. I took some Advil, drank some fluidsand wen t back to bed. When I awoke again, Ifelt just fine, but the last thing I wanted wasanoth er cookie.

Before I got too ston ed, the h igh I experi-enced was absolutely incredible. Eating w eed

is like getting stoned backwards. Smoking itproduces an almost instant high that stays fora while, then gradually wears off. Eating ittakes time to digest, so it sneaks u p on you an d

the high continues to build for much longerthan smoking it even lasts. I felt that the high

I experienced was completely different fromsmoking it. Smoking it, to me, is like gettingstoned from the outside in, but it never quitereaches the core. Eating it, the high starts atthe core and you get stoned from the inside outfor a total and complete body buzz.

As for the taste, the weed flavor was like aghost. The milk chocolate cleansed my palateand erased the weed taste so fast, that I wasntsure I had tasted it. Before long, I wasnt sureof much of anything.

So what did I learn? I learned that thepowder from my grinder has a w icked poten-cy. I learned th at I have n o willpower against

L e t t e r s


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Cannabis Health 7

May 5, 2005 is the day a movement w illbegin to u nite our resources and peacefullybut relentlessly press Congress to look atthe truth about cannabis and then endcannabis prohibition for adults.

On Thursday, May 5, 2005, everyperson in America who understands thatcannabis prohibition does more harm than

good can go to his/her local congressionaldistrict office to peacefully demonstrateoutside the building. We show up and

speak up (Letters an d calls) every day untilour demand is met: Repeal cannabis prohi-bition for adu lts. It doesnt matter if youvenever used marijuana; all you need is theknowledge that these laws are wrong andharmful.

Its as simple as that, but dont underes-timate our numbers AND the power of an

organized, determined group! United WeStand, DIVIDED WE FALL (BenFranklin).

Well show America and t he wor ld thatpot-smokers are EVERYDAY PEOPLEand that we WONT tolerate being treatedlike second-class citizens anymore! We willpeacefully stand our ground until the lawsare stricken from the books!! It wouldntbe the first time...study our history. Please.

For more information visit:

http://www.makepotlegal555.org/ orcontact: Melanie M. Marshall [email protected]

May 5, 20 05 : UNITE FOR FREEDOM!! REPEAL CAN NABIS PROHIBITION! !

L e t t e r s c o n t i n u e d

chocolate chip cookies. I learned t hat th ere issuch a thing as a weed hangover. I learned

that cannabis goodies should be tested forpotency first and to have some patience wait-ing for the high to come. I learned that I cantrust Marijuana to teach me how mu ch is toomuch, but not to harm me in any way. Ilearned to have even more respect forMarijuana and what she is capable of andlearned to love her even more. I learned thatthere really is something better that smokingweed; eating it! Suetaz

Simple math tells youAccording to some old facts I have read

from a tobacco manufacture; in Canada in1996, alcohol claimed around 1,900 deaths,car accidents were involved in 2,900 relateddeaths and tobacco was involved in over45,000. Simple math tells me since this time,over 16,000 people have died due to alcohol,over 24,000 have been k illed because of carsand over 350,000 from tobacco. That comesto 400,000 people which seems low to mewh o died from these thr ee causes. Im

unsure what the real number is but its toohigh. The government has made marijuana

illegal because it is apparen tly harmfu l to us.Worldwide no one has ever had the cause ofdeath, on a death certificate, be from marijua-na - in the over 6,000 years marijuana hasbeen known to man. Where is the harm thatthey are protecting us from? Since no on e hasdied from it, who is the government reallyprotecting, us or th e organized crime elementwho benefit from prohibition?Al Graham, Ontario


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8 Cannabis Health

Canadian AIDS Society gets fundingfor a project on cannabis as therapy

Th e Canadian A IDS Society has receivedfunding for a Cannabis as Therapy: Accessand Regulation Issues for People Living withHIV/AIDS project from the Public HealthAgency of Canada, through the Legal,Ethical and Human Rights Fund of theCanadian Strategy on HIV/AIDS. The proj-ect will examine and document the accessand regulation issues that people living withHIV/AIDS face when they choose to usecannabis as part of their therapy, from alegal, ethical and human rights perspective.For as many as one in three or four peopleliving with HIV/AIDS, cannabis helps themwith appetite so that they can maintain th eirweight. It also helps with n ausea and vomit-ing, a result of both the disease and themedication; pain, stress and mood.

A National Steering Committee, whichbrings together all of the key stakeholders,has been created to direct the project andprovide input and recommendations. A legalconsultant has also been hired. The Project

Consultant, Lynne Belle-Isle, will beconducting focus groups in Vancouver,Victoria, Toronto and Montreal to speakwith people living with HIV/AIDS and

document their stories and realities withusing cannabis as therapy to alleviate their

symptoms. She will also be interviewing keyinformants such as lawyers, physicians,pharmacists, compassion clubs, growers,regulators, and law enforcers, to get theirperspectives. A document will be producedwith these findings.

A key outcome of the project will be todevelop materials to provide information toorganizations and to people living withHIV/AIDS on how to access the currentmedical marijuana program, how to speak to

a physician about medical marijuana, lawenforcement and legal considerations,cannabis as therapy for people living withHIV/AIDS, how to access cannabis, andmore. So as not to be a document collectingdust on a shelf, another key outcome will bethe development of an action plan to addressthe issues identified. The action plan willkeep the momentum going to improve thesituation for all Canadians who wish toinclude cannabis as part of their therapy toalleviate their symptoms.

For more information about theCanadian AIDS Societys project oncannabis as therapy, please contact Lynne

Belle-Isle at 613-230-3580 ext. 126 [email protected]

GW receives Qualifying Notice forapproval in Canada for Sativex Excerpt from Press Release 21/12/2004 -

http://www.gwpharm.com/

GW Pharmaceuticals announces thatHealth Canada, the Canadian regulatoryauthority, has issued a Qualifying Notice forthe approval of Sativex, a cann abis-basedmedicinal extract product. Sativex will initial-ly be indicated in Canada for the relief ofneuropathic pain in Multiple Sclerosis

(MS).GW filed its Sativex application with

Health Canada under the Notice ofCompliance with conditions (NOC/c) policy.The Qualifying Notice confirms that Sativexqualifies to be considered for approval andsets out the conditions and post-approvalundertakings upon which the marketingauth orization for Sativex can be grant ed. Theconditions for Sativexs approval are in accor-dance with standard guidance provided bythe regulator for NOC/c approvals andinclude a commitment to ongoing clinicalresearch. For more information see:www.gwpharm.com


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Cannabis Health 9

L i b b y D a v i e s I n t e r v i e w

Libby Davies, MP, Vancouver East andPierre Claude Nolin, Senator, De Salaberry,

Quebec, demand an Auditor Generals inv esti-gation into Health Canadas medical marijua-na access program.

Libby Davies has been an outspoken advo-cate for drug policy reform. In issue 2-3,March/April, 2004 of the Cannabis HealthMagazine we interviewed Libby Davies aboutthe criminalization of drug users and t he harmcaused by Canadas prohibition ist policies.

Here we are one year later and whatshappening? The planned consultation with

stakeholders did not alleviate the medicalcannabis access problems, patients are stillcriminalized and forced to the unsafe blackmarket for medicine and the proposedchanges to the MMAR are u nwor kable. LibbyDavies has stepped up to the plate one moretime and is now demanding something bedone about this injustice.

On December 2, 2004, Libby Davies andPierre Claude Nolin sent a letter to SheilaFraser, Auditor General of Canada, with a ccto Hon. Ujjal Dosanjh, Minister of Health,requesting an investigation into HealthCanadas medical marijuana program. Theirletter states that from all appearances theOffice of Cannabis Medical Access (OMCA)has failed to meet their own mandate on anu mber of fronts. Excerpts from the letter areas follows:

Health Canada, through the OMCA, hasbeen unable to provide adequate access formedical marijuana users. The departmentsown research suggests that there are over

290,000 medical marijuana u sers in BC alonebut the OCMA has only registered 753exemptees for the whole country in nearly 5years of operation. In addition, the OntarioCourt of appeal in the N ovember 2003Hitzigcase found some parts of the program uncon-stitutional because of a lack of access forthose in need.

Many other serious questions have beenasked about the Medical MarihuanaResearch Plan. Very few research projectshave been approved and those that have arenot adequately moving forward or have beencancelled despite a $7.5 million, 5-year clini-cal research grant .

Health Canadas foray into t he produ ctionof medical marijuana has also been a widelypublicized disaster. In December of 2000Health Canada announced that it was issuinga 5-year, $5.7 million dollar contract for theproduction of a domestic supply of research-grade cannabis to Prairie Plant Systems(PPS), which proposed to grow the material

in a mineshaft in Flin Flon Manitoba.There are currently under 83 exemptees

purchasing cannabis from PPS. This equates

to a cost of around $65,000 per exempteereceiving cannabis from this Health Canada

facility. Tests done by organizations likeCanadians for Safe Access have found thatthe cannabis grown in Flin Flon containsdangerously high levels of both lead andarsenic. Many exemptees have actuallyreturned their supply as the product isdeemed unu sable.

There are many inadequacies with HealthCanadas medical marijuana program and aninvestigation by your office would go a longway in h elping those in need of medical mari-

juana by forcing the department to fix exist-ing pr oblems.

We recently s poke w ith Libby forupdate on her current initiatives.

Cannabis Health: Have you received aresponse to your Dec. 2, 2004 request foran inv estigation into Canadas marijuanamedical access program?

Libby Davies: We have received aresponse from the Auditor Generals officesaying they will review our request for an

investigation. Im hoping that because therehas been a lot of concern about the medicalmarijuana program that the Auditor Generalwill pick th is up from her perspective of wiseuse of taxpayer dollars, to examine whetheror not this program is functioning properly.We will also be doing a freedom of informa-tion request to t ry to get some more informa-tion about whats been going on in theprogram, in terms of how many applicationshave been approved, how many tur ned down ,what their risk management criteria are, etc.

CH: Why do you feel so strongly aboutthis?

LD: I know people may find this hard tobelieve, but Im actually very anti-drugspersonally. I dont use drugs, but I think thatprohibition equals chaos. Prohibition equalsno control. Prohibition equals criminalizingyoung people. Prohibition equals criminaliz-ing responsible adult users of marijuana whoarent doing anybody, not even themselves,any harm. I see the impact and I believe it

should be a matt er of personal choice.CH: The recent decriminalization

debate exposed a disturbingly low levelof knowledge in the House of Commonsabout the medical use of marijuana.Despite ample scientific evidence to thecontrary, some of our MPs made state-ments indicating a belief that marijuanause leads to cancer, lung disease addic-tion and psychosis. Why, in your opin-ion, is the level of education among ourfederal politicians on the medical use ofmarijuana s o inadequate?

LD: Well, we all have different areas ofexpertise. Having said that, I do feel that the

debate around marijuana and drugs generallyis very much a political debate. There is thiswhole mythology, this whole morality; so

much of our society is based on the criminal-ization and th e prohibition of drugs. This is ahuge infrastructure that were dealing with.You take on dr ug prohibition policy and youtake on th e whole of society in term s of whatit stands for. Some of our elected people fullyunderstand the scientific evidence, and yetthey continue to pedal the anti-drug, anti-decriminalization line. They have so boughtinto the ideology of prohibition that theycant face the reality that it isnt working.Their election platform plays on peoplesfears about crime and the illegal drug trade,but wont talk about how thats driven byprohibition. I think it was Gore Vidal whowrote, If prohibition of drugs werentinvented as a form of social control, theydhave to in vent somethin g else.

CH: Support for the creation of amore accessible medical access programcomes from many levels of our society,from the courts, the Senate, the privatesector, as well as the public. Yet with

each revision to the Marihuana MedicalAccess Regulations, the programbecomes more restrictive and unwork-able. What might account for the federalgovernments failure to recognize chang-ing public attitudes on this issue?

LD: The Federal Government neverwanted to do this, but were forced, by courtdecisions, to set up this program. Themedical marijuana program has never had areal champion within the government. Thatsproblem number one. The more you studythe bill, the more you can see that its actual-ly misnamed, and we could end up with awider net of enforcement than we have now.

Libby Davies, MP, Vancouver EastPhoto by Joshua Berson


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10 Cannabis Health

CH: Yes, thats how it seems to us. Wecall it the Recriminalization Bill. It

gives the RCMP an increasingly biggermandate.

LD: To me the issue of substance use isprimar ily a health issue, wheth er its alcohol,tobacco, marijuana or other drugs. Its aboutrealistic education and getting people tounderstand what they do to their bodies.Why do we have the police as a primarysource of education? Whenever there is adebate around marijuana or drugs generally,who are the first ones up there calling press

conferences and spouting their opinions?Th e RCMP. Th ats all, again, being driven byprohibition. It should be up to the public andthe legislators to debate this issue, not thepolice.

CH: How do they have that power?

LD: Our society has allowed the drugdebate to be driven primarily by a law andorder enforcement regime. The enforcementagencies - the CCRA, th e RCMP and in terna-tional int elligence - have a h uge vested inter-

est in keeping these drugs illegal. They gainenormous power as a result of prohibition.To me, its a public policy issue; its a publichealth issue that we should be debating. Themore we can move it into that arena, themore we can h ave an intelligent debate th atsbased on science an d reason able objectives.

CH: The most recent amendment tothe MMAR includes the long-term phas-ing out of personal and designatedproduction licenses. Why does the f eder-al government continue to monopolize

the production of medical gradecannabis?

LD: It is this whole fear that they have tostop the floodgates from opening. Its got tobe controlled. Its got to be secretive and itsgot to be very difficult to access, so theydecided to go with this sole source mon opolysupply situation. Theyve wanted to keep alid on this but actually what theyve done iscreate way more problems than if they hadbeen open and actually sought out knowl-

edgeable people and good advice. They justdont have the expertise and I cant, for thelife of me, understand why Health Canadawouldnt work legitimately with the medicalmarijuana community or compassion clubs.This is what has lead to us calling for theAuditor General to look at the situation, athow t he taxpayers money is being spent.

CH: Despite a $7.5 million researchallocation by Health Canada, few proj-ects have been approved, and of those,many have had their funding frozen.

Recently announced is th e Cannabis forthe Management of Pain: Assessment ofSafety Study (COMPASS) funded by

Health Canada in partnership withCanadian Institutes of Health Research.

What do you think of the concernexpressed by Canadians for Safe Accessabout the quality, heavy metal contentand biological contamination levels ofthe Prairie Plant Systems cannabis to beused in this study?

LD: Im not a scientist, but I think itsvery difficult to conduct a scientific studybased on a single source about which somany serious concerns have been expressed.I think the government should be allowing

much better disclosure of whats going on atthis PPS growing facility in Flin Flon. Theyshould be allowing other points of produc-tion an d access. Because of the lack of infor-mation available, the medical marijuanacommunity is so suspicious of the productavailable through the governments monop-oly that they prefer to rely on their ownsources despite the fact th at th ey are illegal.

CH: And strains of their choice,which is not something that HealthCanada has even recognized.

LD: I have been reading the material sentto me by Canadians for Safe Access with in for-mation about different strains and levels ofTHC and their efficacy in relieving differentconditions. There are people in the medicalmarijuana movement with a tremendous bodyof knowledge, and I respect that, and I justwish Health Canada would work with you.

CH: Yes, it is a big problem. Its hardto get them to take us seriously. We werepart of the Stakeholders AdvisoryCommittee through the CanadianCannabis Coalition, and the impressionthat most of us got was that they were

L i bby Dav ie s I n t e r v i ew

Prohibi t ion equals

chaos . Prohibi t ionequals no contro l .Prohibition equals crimi-nalizing young people.Prohibition equals crimi-na l iz ing respons ib leadult users of marijuanawho arent doing

anybody, not even them-selves, any harm. I seethe impact and I believe itshould be a matter ofpersonal choice.


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Cannabis Health 11

tolerating us, but they really didnt planon listening to us without some precon-

ceived notion that we were justpotheads.

LD: But you know what, I do feel that thecommunity has growing credibility and theycant dismiss you. I think the fact that wevecome so far and that this is a real debatethats taking place shows this. The reality isthat the government is really under pressureto confront their own inconsistencies in theirarguments around marijuana. Thats becauseof the pressure that s come from the mar ijua-

na community, so people should never feelthat theyre completely marginalized and t hatthey dont have any power. I think where weare now in Canada is a testament to howpeople have worked so hard and pushed sohard to create this debate and to push backagainst this status quo. Were at a very criti-cal point.

CH: How far away do you think weare from legalization?

LD: I dont kn ow, but I believe the debateis beginning to change and the criticism ofthe bill is an indicat ion. Yes, we still have aprohibitionist regime primarily, but I thinktheres a lot more debate. I think there are a

lot of people in the media, even within themainstream sort of corporate media, who are

sympathetic to legalization, wh o realize whatthis is all about, and I think, in some ways,will help with t he debate.

CH: Weve been pushing the magazineinto the mainstream and doing studies ondemographics over the last six to eightmonths. Were finding that because itsstill an illegal substance, many corporatebusinesses refuse to get involved in thedebate. They sympathize, they believe inlegalization but they wont put their

names forward in fear of the stigma. Howcan we change that? The business lo bby ishuge. If we had their support, surelythings would just have to fall into place.

LD: There are business interests thatpromote legalization because they actually seeit as an entrepreneurial enterprise. FraserInstitu te is very pro-legalization. Th ey see it asan economic issue, and of course, it is. TheEconomist, a fairly conservative mainstreammagazine in the US, is doing a big article thatchallenges prohibition. But I dont know that

theyre going to lead the way on it. I think thatpublic opinion is generally what is going tochange, so I would put more of my energy intoworking with community organizations or

local elected representatives who are close towhat is going on. Primarily, we have to focus

on getting people to understand the harmsthat take place as a result of prohibition.

CH: Do you h ave any recommendationto the medical cannabis community?What could we collectively do to helpalleviate our dysfunctional system?

LD: The in formation that is produced bythe community challenging whats takingplace is extremely important. If we can getthe Auditor General to investigate, thatwould be a very significant th ing, and w ill in

large part be because of the questions raisedby the community. I do encourage people tocontinue on w ith the emails and the letters,not just to me please, but to your local MP.We have to provide real education to moreelected representatives, and Bill C-17 is agood opportunity for that. It is beforeParliament an d is being sent off to the JusticeCommittee for presumably more public hear-ings. Ive spoken to lots of MPs pr ivately andI think they know that the current systemsstatus quo is ridiculous. But they need to

hear from their constituents. At the end ofthe d ay, we all wan t to be r e-elected.

L ibby Dav ies I n te r v i ew


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Cannabis Health 13

By Paul Henderson & Cannabis Health editors,

B.C., B. S. J. & Paul Henderson. Paul is a free-

lance journali st currently living in Toronto. Hehas worked as a newspaper reporter in Grand

Forks, B.C., a treeplanter for nine seasons in

B.C., A lberta, and Ontario, and h e currently

contributes to various publications across

Canada while working as assistant editor of

Vitality Magazine.

Canadas newest therapeutic cannabiscompany Cannasat Pharmaceuticals Inc. has barely bloomed in to existence, and is elic-iting much curiosity. What do we knowabout it so far?

Cannasat, a Toronto-based company, isthe is the co-creation of Torontos City-TVfounder Moses Znaimer; former head ofretail chain Club Monaco, Joseph Mimran;and Hill & Gertner Capital Corporation.Officially incorporated in January 2004, itsreal birth was many months before that.Financial backing comes from Hill &Gertn er, and David Hill of Hill & Gertn er hasactually moved over to Cannasat as the

companys full-time CEO.

Andrew Williams is Cannasats VicePresident of Operations. An drew has an

MBA from the Richard Ivey School ofBusiness (UWO), a BAH from QueensUniversity and has a background as aStrategy Consultant in Canada and theUnited States.

In addition to th ese co-foun ders, marijua-na activist lawyer Alan Young was in fromday one, and is thought t o be one of the driv-ing forces behind Cann asats creation. Youngis widely reputed as Canadas foremostcannabis lawyer. He is best known for his

involvement, directly or indirectly, in most ofCanadas landmark marijuana cases. He isone of those rare lawyers who concernshimself more with morality than cashreward. Anyone wh o know s me, know sthat all you have to do is cry to get free legalwork. Young has said. He is also an earlyfilm-school enthusiast, outstanding civilrights lawyer, professor of law at OsgoodeHall, Co-Director of the Innocence Project,and an author of full-length works for thetheatre. His first published short story

appeared in th e Christmas 1999 issue of liter-

ary magazine, Taddle Creek. If you wouldlike to read more about Alan Young,

Cannabis Health interviewed him inCANADAS CANNABIS LAWYERS, Issue 3Mar/Apr 2003.

Dr. Lester Grinspoon MD, has also comeon board as a scientific advisor for Cann asat.He is an emeritus professor of psychiatry atHarvard Medical School and has been study-ing cannabis since 1967. He has publishedtwo books on the subject. MarihuanaReconsidered was published by HarvardUniversity Press in 1971. Marihuana, the

Forbidden Medicine, co-authored withJames B. Bakalar, was published in 1993 byYale University Press. The revised andexpanded edition appeared in 1997 and isnow translated into 10 languages. (MedicalUses rxmarijuana.com Uses of Marijuana -marijuana-uses.com)

Grinspoon also wrote a piece entitled ACannabis Odyssey September 15, 2003 forthe Harvard Crimson Online and republishedin Cannabis Health, THE CANA / DUTCHMODEL, Issue 7 Nov/Dec 2003, in which he

explains how his cannabis enlightenment

Cannasa t , Canada s Newes t Cannab i s Company


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14 Cannabis Health


began back in 1967. Lester writes; I wasconcerned that so many young people were

using the terribly dangerous drug, marijuana,so I decided to review t he medical and scien-tific literature on the substance and write areasonably objective an d scientifically soun dpaper on its dangers. Young people wereignoring the warn ings of the governm ent, butperhaps some would seriously consider awell-documented review of the availabledata. As I began to explore the literature, Idiscovered, to my astonishment, th at I had toseriously question my own understanding.What I thought I knew was based largely on

myths, old and new. I realized how little mytrainin g in science and medicine had protect-ed me against this misinformation. I hadbecome not just a victim of a disinformationcampaign, but because I am a physician, oneof its agents as well. The full story can befound at: http://www.cannabishealth.com/issue_07/#production

Also involved is Hilary Black, founderand past figurehead of the largest compassionclub in Canada, the BC Compassion Club

Society. The Society is a provincially regis-tered non -profit organization w hich has beendistributing medicinal cannabis to those inneed since May of 1997. Hilary wrote an arti-cle for Cannabis Health in COMPASSIONUNDER ATTACK, Issue 2 Jan/Feb 2003, inwhich she states, One of the fundamentalprincipals that the BCCCS will always hold asa priority in this battle is the right to access,grow, and use whole-plant cannabis. Ascorporate interests take notice of the pr ogresswe as a commun ity are making, they will find

ways to use the legal room we have created toreap their profits; such is the nature of thiscapitalist society. It is our shared responsibili-ty to ensure the rights of those in need arenever compromised in order for th e profiteersto profit, or in order for the government tomaintain the status quo.

When w e asked Hilary how she felt aboutthe Cann asat team she said; I am inspired bythe integrity, motivation and dedication ofthese folks. The politics surrounding thisplant have dramatically inhibited the abilityof researchers to create a body of clinical dataon the therapeutic application of medicinalcannabis. Although we are working in anextremely political arena, we are determinedto focus the safety and efficacy of this plantand its unique chemical compounds. A reli-able body of clinical data will be a significantcontribution to ensuring patients rights toaccess medicinal cannabis and cannabis-based medicines.

Young, Grinspoon and Black are well-

know n champions of the medical marijuan amovement, but the experience ofCannasats personnel is patient-based as

well. Hilary shared with us the story ofSara Lee Irwin, a Cannasat employee who

holds a license from Health Canada topossess marijuana for medical purposes.As one of the first employees of the compa-ny, Sara has been given the un ique opportu-nity to educate the uninformed, debunkmany of the myths surrou ndin g the medicalusefulness of the cannabis plant, an d to tellthe moving and hopeful story of howcannabis h as improved her life.

Nearly 16 years ago, at th e age of 32, Sarawas diagnosed with cancer in her pelvis and

hip, resulting in the removal of her left hipand the left half of her pelvis. She saysAlthough I was fortunate to receive a trans-plant and an artificial hip, ever since thisordeal I have walked with a cane and experi-enced pain that has been constant, some-times debilitating.

Sara has chosen to use cannabis as herprimary source of medicine. Before I hadheard of the concept of medical marijuana, Iused medications such as Tylenol 3 andPercodans. Th ese medicines were legal and

prescribed by my doctor, but for me, they areharsh with many n egative side effects and donot work as well as cannabis. Cannabis hasallowed me to function as a mother, anemployee and most importantly, to come outfrom under the fog of heavy pain killers andenjoy my life.

According to Young the company isrecruiting figureheads and supporters of themedical marijuana movement, not merely togain credibility, but rather because they

believe they share the same end goals.Cannasat, by r ecruiting th ese people, makesa commitment to the movement, and thatspart of the point, h e said. So we stay on theright path, because it is all about money even-tually, and money can distort things. Weveput together a team that will have a lot ofintegrity and we w ill remain tr ue to our or ig-inal commitments.

Cannasat plans to conduct clinical trialson the potential medical uses for extracts fromthe plant, but and this is of crucial signifi-

cance they are also committed to workingwith whole, herbal marijuana. What makesus un ique, I think, is th at we are interested inworking with the whole plant, Williams toldCannabis Health. But for people who dontlike to smoke, or use a vaporizer, or havedifferent conditions that dont necessarilyrequire rapid onset, there will be a whole lineof products developed. It is here thatCannasat hopes to cash in on an almost brandnew market with billion dollar potential.

There are over 20 drugs derived fromthe opium poppy, Williams said. Todaythere are really only two dru gs on th e marketthat are derived from cannabis even though

cannabis is more versatile in that it h as impli-cations for pain, inflammation, appetite, and

spasticityour longer term view is that th erewill be a whole new class of drugs derivedfrom the plant. If you have something thatrequires rapid onset like nausea, youd haveto find something that mimics smoking orsome inhalation route based on the time thatit takes to get into your blood stream. But ifyou have something chronic in nature, likechronic pain, you pr obably want slow releaseand that is where patches are very good.

With a five to seven year head start on

Cannasat, GW Pharmaceuticals fromEngland will probably soon get theircannabis-based drug to market in Canada.Th e dru g is a sub-lingual spray called Sativex.But many in the Cannasat camp and else-wher e are critical of GW for th eir political-ly correct stance and what is being calledsmokeaphobia and euphoriaphobia.Specifically, according to GW executivechairman Geoffrey Guy, Sativex has beendesigned to w ork at levels that will not causethe side effects of euphoria familiar to mari-

juana smokers.There have been criticisms of the so-

called pharmaceuticalization of marijuanabecause of these attitudes and statements inthe UK. But according to those involved,Cannasat will take a different approach.We are not going to be a GW that is veryanti-smoking and euphor iaphobic, Williamssaid. I think theyve done it that way forpolitical reasons, but the Canadian landscapeis different than the UK was five years ago.

Some fear th at if Health Canada appr ovesdrugs X, Y, and Z, from Cannasat, GW, andothers, they could then say, Cannabis hasbeen pharmaceuticalized. We dont needsmoked herbal marijuana or compassionclubs any more. Time to crack down .

This is precisely a concern of RielleCapler of the B.C. Compassion Club Society.The fact that the pharmaceutical industryhas taken a serious interest in cannabismeans that they acknowledge that manypeople are finding it effective for relieving a

range of symptoms, Capler said, adding,Th e record shows that some of these compa-nies are not necessarily ethical, and thatsome of their products are ineffective andeven potentially dangerous. A situationwhere the whole plant remains illegal, whilethe pharmaceutical can be legally producedand sold, enhances their ability to make aprofit.

Dr. Lester Grinspoon has said that thecommercial success of any psychoactive

cannabinoid product will depend on howvigorously the prohibition against marijuanais enforced. Given this fear, why would apot activist legend such as Dr. Lester


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16 Cannabis Health

Grinspoon be on board with a company that

plans to make pharmaceuticals out ofcannabis, if he truly supports marijuanalegalization?

When Grinspoon sat down with theCannasat folks he had th ree priorities: first-ly, develop a good, reliable, herbal marijua-na product that can be ready for medicaluse; secondly, look at isolated cann abinoidsand develop analogs that people mightprefer from a medical and economic pointof view; and thirdly, look at differentsystems of administering cannabis and

cannabis products.

In my clinical experience the gold stan-dard of medicinal use of cannabis for mostpeople is whole, smoked marijuana,Grinspoon told Cannabis Health. But Ibelieve that herbal marijuana is not the onlythin g we can get out of cannabis. We hope tomake use of the receptor sites and the neuro-transmitters, and so forth, discovering allsorts of things, where we might manipulatepart of that system in a way, conceivably, that

whole cannabis cannot.Alan Youn g confirms th e Cann asat

commitment to research and to herbal mari-juana. The reason Hilary and I are on boardis that we are committed to working with theherbal product and to developing extractsfrom it, he said. But does this address thefear that if Cannasat creates good qualityproducts derived from marijuan a, the govern-ment and p olice might feel justified in crack-ing down on smokers?

Youn g says that the reason he gotinvolved and has put his credibility on theline for Cannasat is because he thinks theopposite will happen. Th is is the only way I

see out of the MMAR (Marihuana Medical

Access Regulations), he said. If there areapproved cannabis products, then you havenormalized the product and it will becomeavailable in the ordinary course by prescrip-tion. And then the MMAR will be obsolete.

But if marijuana becomes a prescribeddrug like any other drug wouldnt thathinder, or at least not help, universal accessthat many seek?

Th e only solution is legalization, Youngsaid. Ultimately that has to be the goal.

Cannasat is just w orkin g on the medical side.We are not a political lobby group. However,I and many others will continue to worktowar d th e overall goal. Youn g is nowengaged in meeting with Health Canada,seeking approval for clinical trials.

Given the massive amounts of moneyinvolved, the company will certainly have tocome up with one or more proprietary prod-ucts to recoup the investments. With an eyeto long term clinical studies on the medicalbenefits of marijuana, Cann asat has bought

a non-controlling minority interest inPrairie Plant Systems (PPS) the govern-ments only provider of marijuana underthe MMAR. Vice President, Andr ewWilliams told Cannabis H ealth, At pr esent,Cannasat owns less than 25% of PPS on afully diluted basis. We expect our invest-ment in PPS to be a good one for a n umberof reasons. While it is true that PPS is theonly Good Man ufacturing Practices (GMP)compliant and biosecure cannabis produc-tion facility in Canada, the strength and

track record of PPS management team andboard of directors is really the key to thisinvestment. It is strategically important

because PPS is an innovative biotechnology

company that we believe can help us accel-erate our research and development activi-ties and goals.

Cannasats plans include run nin g clinicaltrials to determine the effects of differentstrains of marijuana on a variety of physicalconditions, but PPS grows just one strain atthis t ime. Clinical trials are man y years off sothe issue of different strains might be easilyresolved in time. But different strains aside,the quality of the marijuana currently beingproduced in the mine shaft in Manitoba is of

concern t o some.

Concern about the quality and safety ofthe Prairie Plant Systems marijuana h as beenvehemently expressed by the Canadians forSafe Access in their open letter, posted ontheir website, ww w.safeaccess.ca.

Rielle Capler of the BC Compassion ClubSociety also expressed reservations. Thequality and safety of that product has beencalled into question by researchers andpatients, and these concerns need to be

adequately addressed.

Cannasat states on their website: Weunderstand and acknowledge that there havebeen some concerns raised about the qualityof PPS product. We have been assu red by PPSmanagement and by Health Canada of thequality of the product and that they willcontinue to make improvements and addressall valid concern s.

Hilary Black comments, Cannasatsupports PPS efforts to continue to work

with both Health Canada and patients todevelop and upgrade their product. I amconvinced that to best serve Canadianpatients, we all need to co-operate with eachother to take full advantage of the uniqueopportunity we have in Canada to advancethis issue and to meet pressing patientsneeds.

Cannabis Health looks forward to watch-ing this picture develop. Cannasats princi-pals, its supporters and its critics all share thesame hope that Cannasat will earn therespect and trust of the medical marijuanacommunity by doing useful research intocannabinoids, developing useful therapeu-tics, and providing a good quality herbalproduct.

Dr. Lester Grinspoon looks at Cannasatwith a hopeful enthu siasm. I see these guysas seeing much more of the whole picture,Grinspoon said. Im with them. I think theirhearts are in the right place.

Photo courtesy of Prairie Plant Systems Inc., Canadas contracted grower



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A n E v e n B r i g h t e r F u t u r e

Dominic Cramer founded Toronto HempCompany (THC) in 1994. Since then hes beenan integral part of many organizations, events,and advances within the Canadian cannabiscomm unit y, including the Toronto Compassion

Centre, Sacred Seed exotic seed and houseplantshop, The Herb Collective garden supply shop,Green Truth drug policy conferences,Domini zer herbal vaporization t echnology, theCanadian Cannabis Coalition, Canadians forSafe Access, NORML Canada, the CanadianCannabis Society , various press conferences andtelevision productions, and Fill The Hill.Detai ls: www.torontohemp.com.

he past couple of years havebrought phenomenal advance-ment in the acceptance andunderstanding of cannabis in

Canada and beyond. Calls for an end to ouroutrageous prohibition are not coming from just a handful of radicals or visionaries.People from all backgrounds, beliefs andwalks of life are finally speaking out toencourage drug policy modification basedupon logic and compassion.

Unfortunately, we still face enormous

un certainty an d resistance to positive chan ge.Th ere seems to be no end in sight to th e igno-rance and propaganda, or to deceptive poli-cies full of coun ter-productive half-measures.Our courts and leaders continue to repeated-ly let us down , and man y steps forward seemto in evitably cause a backlash of fear, lies andback-stepping. Progress has been a very slowand difficult exercise in patience, persistenceand, far too often, futility.

As the cannabis community has grownin size and diversity, our unavoidable andoften underappreciated differences have givenus great strength, but have also increasinglythreatened to detrimentally divide us or

damage our credibility. Competingcommercial interests and egos, minor

personal disputes blown out of proportion,lapses in judgment and tact, built-up frus-trations and stress, and unexplainablenegativity cannot be permitted to confuseor muffle our message.

It is time, more than ever before, for u sto embrace our differences. That support-ers of cannabis compassion are so diverseis a clear indicator of the importance andenormity of our efforts. We must all, indi-vidually and collectively, strengthen andsharpen our efforts with a major focus onunity, co-operation and mutual respect.

Many among us wisely feel thatcannabis prohibition has been, from thestart, a massive and counter-productiveblunder and that w e must do whatever ittakes to demand full legalization-eradica-tion of this injustice once and for all.

Others among us ar e, perhaps equally wisely,more accepting of (or unconcerned about)the greater inadequacies and inconsistenciesin our established traditions, protocols and

industries; and are quicker to allow compro-mise and accept step-by-step measures in thenegotiation and carrying-out of drug-peacetreaties.

Some faithfullybelieve that p rohibi-tion of naturescreations is obvi-ously contrary toGods will, whileothers analyticallydetest the damagedone by drug prohi-bition and thehypocrisy of asystem that createsand magnifies thevery ills it ispurportedly protect-ing us from.

Some feel thatcannabis is such animportant plant

that it should not beused for financialgain, while othersfeel that its hightime for legitimatebusiness people andour tax revenue toprofit from thisplant instead ofonly criminalshaving that ability.

Some argue thatmarihuana is animportant source ofchemicals to be u sed

in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals;others refuse to disrespect the plant or play

god by using anything except the highest-grade sun-nurtured and organically grownunadulterated flowers.

Some fight for the rights of even theirchildren to benefit from the medicinal effec-tiveness of cannabis products, while othersfight for an end to proh ibition so that we canrealistically protect our children from anunregulated black market.

While many of these opinions seemincompatible, it must be recognized that we

cannot and have not made much realprogress without the support of a wide cross-section of our general population. However,we must also be vigilant and cautious ofefforts (including those unintended) whoseeffect might be to cause conflict an d distractfrom or diminish our progress.

While our Controlled Drugs andSubstances Act remains ridiculous, and ourgovernments Marihuana Medical AccessRegulations remain inaccessible - a hugelydisappointing boondoggle with most medici-nal users left out in t he cold and most doctorsleft scared, unwilling and cautioned not tocooperate - both mainstream medicine and

Cannabis Health 17

Dominic Cramer

T


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the herbal underground are still somehowmaking amazing progress. And while this

effort h as stretched on for decades, time is ofthe essence; millions of people, many of ourloved ones, are suffering and even dyingunnecessarily and prematurely.

With recent drug and research approvals,Prairie Plant Systems and GW products aregaining pharmaceutical acceptance in Canada.At the same time, Compassion Centres andsimilar organizations have been established inmore and more cities and small towns acrossthe nation to meet the immediate medicalnecessities of our population. The scope ofservices offered, the range of people assisted,and the level of support and collaboration aregrowing at an almost incredible rate. Also,some kind of decriminalization for personalrecreational/medicinal/spiritual use an d culti-vation is definitely looming on the politicalhorizon, and many challenges to the constitu-tionality of prohibition continu e in our courtsand the courts of public opinion. As produc-tive and momentous as the past few years havebeen, the next few likely hold even greater

potential for positive change.It is clear that a major diversification is

occurring. As capitalism and our health-careestablishment finally run with the main-

stream mar keting of cannabis-based prescrip-tion m edicine, cann abis is also gaining someof the respect it deserves as a medicinal herb,a natural health product and as an optionfor use and experimentation for whateverpurpose by any adult Canadian who sochooses. As the diversity of cannabissupporter s brings us strength, so too does thediversity of uses, products, revenues, andmarkets for cannabis.

While it has become ever more apparentthat the fears and threats of the administra-tion of the United States have held us back,those same States and organizations withinthem have made remarkable moves forwardwith m edicinal and more general decriminal-ization. Many States, notwithstandingcontradictory federal policy and action, arefar more advanced in this regard than weCanadians even believe ourselves to be. Th isis a sad situation, considering the opportuni-ty Canada has had to help lead the way onthis issue, the chance to further and to

strengthen our intern ational reputation as ahuman-rights and peace-keeping superpowerand forward-thinking sovereign nation.

With so many frontiers for us to work on ,and so special a long-standing tradition of

harmony and cooperation within our ranks,the future couldnt be much brighter forunifying organizations such as the CanadianCannabis Coalition, NORML Canada,Educators for Sensible Drug Policy, LawEnforcement Against Prohibition, and theCanadian Cannabis Society. Groups likethese are allowing alliances of CompassionCentres, Cannabis-related businesses andorganizations, medical and civil liberty asso-ciations, and all sorts of Canadians with aninterest in this issue to connect, communi-

cate, and support each other. Our message isbeing presented with ever more volume andclarity, and is reaching audiences and strataof society that were previously mostly out ofour reach.

We must ensure that this momentumcontinues keep educating ourselves andthose around us, joining and supportingunifying organizations, participating inevents and campaigns, contacting our leadersand media, and encouraging positivity, cohe-

siveness and collaboration.

A n E v e n B r i g h t e r F u t u r e

By Al Byrne

A l By rne is co-founder and Secretary-Treasurer

of Patients Out of Time, a national non-profit

devoted to educating health care professionals

and the general public about the therapeutic

uses of marijuana . www.medicalcannabis.com

The first five patients in the US whoreceived their cannabis medicine from thefederal government were featured speakers atthe National Organization for the Reform ofMarijuana Laws (NORML) annual confer-ence held in Washington, DC in 1990. Theprime movers of that conference were twomembers of its Board of Directors, Al Byrneand Mary Lynn Mathre, RN. A fellowmember of the Board made a call to a friendat C-Span, t he local civic orientated TV chan -nel that is broadcast nationwide, suggesting

this conference was worthy of its attention.They agreed and broadcast the entire confer-ence live and repeated the entire program onseveral occasions.

Forty thousand phone calls poured intothe NORML offices that month. The patientshad put a n ew face on marijuana. These werenot the stoner hippies so often portrayed inthe press, but men and women with grayhair, soft words and serious illnesses. Theywere everybodys dad, grandmother or son

and the US government provided them withtheir medicine. The callers w ere from all overthe country, supportive, and wanted to knowmore about medical marijuana.

After working together informally for afew years, the five federal patients an d healthcare professionals with expertise in clinicalcannabis applications, formalized their workby incorporating as Patients Ou t of Time, co-founded by Mathre and Byrne, in the springof 1995. The organizations mission was andis to educate health care professionals andthe public about therapeutic cannabis.

To execute the mission the organizationdecided to approach national professional

organizations that were health care focusedor had national significance in related fields.Individual MDs, RNs and other profession-als we had all dealt with over the years werealmost universally supportive of medicalcannabis but only in private. To overcomethe obvious intimidation that had infiltrated

medical conversation of individuals publicly,we concluded that a professional organiza-tion, taking a supportive stand, would offerpersonal protection to each member andgrant the issue the prestige of the organiza-tion.

Mary Lynn Mathre, ML, had made thefirst such presentation to the Virginia NursesAssociation in 1994 and they passed aResolution in support of medical cannabis,the first nursing organization to do so. Overthe years the list of support groups has grownto dozens. It includes the oldest and largesthealth care organization in the US, TheAmerican Public Health Association; the

18 Cannabis Health


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Cannabis Health 19

Pat i en t s ou t o f t ime

American Nurses Association; thirteen statenursing associations; and the Institute of

Medicine.To maximize our educational effort we

created tools for other patient advocates toutilize. Our first project was to produce,Marijuana as Medicine, an eighteen-minute award winning video (US andCanada) that has been viewed thousands oftimes in over 20 countries. This video againreinforced the true image of the patients aseveryday folks who were ill and usedcannabis successfully as medicine. In theirown w ords they told their stories of sickness,prescription drugs, operations, depression,oncoming blindness, and then the reversal ofall those negatives when they started on aprotocol of therapeutic cannabis.

The second tool was Cann abis in MedicalPractice: A Legal, Historical andPharmacological Overview of t he T herapeuticUse of Marijuana, edited by Mathre andcontributed to by seventeen experts fromBrazil, The Netherlands, Jamaica and theUnited States. This book was created to

answer the questions that were being askedby hundreds of patients, to assist their care-givers in understanding the full spectrum oftherapeutic cannabis use and to providehundreds of references should the readerwish to learn more. It has become a classic inits field and continues to be referenced.

By the end of the nineties the awakeningprovided by C-Span had blossomed into afull-scale awareness that the US governmentpolicy on medical cannabis was at best,misguided. To us it seemed just plain mean,based on a relentless propaganda machinethat just lied about the issue. The publicseemed to agree. Over the decade polls aboutmedical cannabis efficacy an d medical n eces-sity climbed from the low 40s to the mid70s, even into the 80 percentile in somestates.

In order for research to be considered ofmerit it must be replicated and peerreviewed. Th e results mu st be made public,scrutinized, and validated. To overcome any

federal government dialog that indicatedthat such research did not exist we started a

series of clinical cannabis conferencesbeginnin g in 2000.

The first such meeting was sponsored bythe College of Nursing and the College ofMedicine of the University of Iowa. Thissponsorship was critical to our work. Itenabled the agenda to be accredited forprofessional education for MDs, RNs, SWs,JDs and other professionals. To be sohonored the faculty and the presentationshad to meet the highest of academic stan-dards. All conferences inthe series have receivedthis accredited status. Theentire conference wasbroadcast live to variouslocations including McGillUniversity in Canada andto the health educationnetwork of the State ofOregon. The faculty wasof the highest quality; thepress response supportiveand the studies werepresented under the

theme of Science BasedClinical Applications this formed a benchmarkof knowledge from whichthere has been no retreat.

Our second confer-ence was sponsored by theHealth Department of theState of Oregon, theOregon Nurses Association and othergroups. The faculty included a number ofspeakers from European countries and we

involved the hemp community in theproceedings by discussing the positive impacton health that cannabis used as food, hemp,proffered for sick and well alike. The mainfocus of this forum was to discuss pain of alltypes, since over 70% of the Oregon patientsreported pain relief as their primary purposefor the use of cannabis.

The Third National Clinical Conferenceon Cannabis Therapeutics was held in Mayof 2004 in Charlottesville, VA. It was co-

sponsored by the Virginia NursesAssociation, the Pain Management Center

and t he Medical, Law an d Nu rsing Schools ofthe University of Virginia, known in the US

for its conservative ways. The faculty includ-ed the worlds finest cannabis researchers,clinicians, patients and caregivers from theUS, England, Israel, and Canada. At thisvenue cannabis use as medicine ranged fromthe therapeutic use by infants and children touse with Hospice patients.

Our Board of Directors includes four ofthe seven US federal cannabis patients left

alive, Irv Rosenfeld, George McMahon,Corrine Millet and Barbara Douglass and afifth patient, Elvy Musikka, is our national

spokesperson (the other tw o patients wish toremain anonymous). In the spring of 2001 inMissoula, MT, four of the patients under-went an extensive three-day examination ofevery system in their body to determine thelong term effects of cann abis. Known widelyas The Missoula Chronic Use Study, theinvestigators concluded that after usingcannabis therapeutically for a range of 11 to27 years, with a dose of nine cured ouncesper mont h for Barbara and others, and elevencured oun ces every 26 days for Irv, they were

all in fine condition exempting their originalillness and the wear and tear of age. We

A l Byrne at the 3rd Nat ional Clinical Conference on Cannabis

Therapeutics. Photo courtesy of www.Medicalcannabis.com


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assume that the federal government neverbothered to conduct such long-term studies

because it did not want to scientifically vali-date the efficacy of cannabis. A thoroughreview of the study, Chronic Cannabis Use inthe Compassionate Investigational New Dru gProgram: An Examination of Benefits andAdverse Effects of Legal Clinical Cannabiswas published in the Journal of CannabisTherapeutics and is available for reviewonline at w ww.medicalcannabis.com.

An ongoing action of which we play apart is the Petition to Reschedule Cannabisthat has been submitted to and forwarded bythe US Drug Enforcement Administration(DEA) to th e US Department of Health andHuman Services (HHS). The petition,presented as required by government regula-tions, requ ests a complete review of all exist-ing literature and research by HHSconcerning medical cannabis with thepurpose of having cannabis rescheduled to aminimum of schedule three (off labelprescription level) or less. The completedocument is available at

www.drugscience.org. The review must becompleted no later than the summer of 2007by HHS rules. Under US law a finding byHHS that cannabis has medical use wouldrequire the DEA to reschedule cannabis. Thewar on cannabis in the US for medical usewould be over. Advocates for medicalcannabis in t he US are being asked to requesttheir elected representatives to press for anexpedited review.

Patients Ou t of Time is not a membershiporganization. We are a volunteer cabal of

patients, clinicians and scientists who workin the cann abis arena. We depend upon dona-

tions from individuals and grants fromcompanies and foundations for our finan cing.

These h ave included GW Ph armaceuticals ofthe UK, Advanced Nutrients of Canada, andthe Marijuana Policy Project and SolvayPharmaceuticals of the US. One hundredpercent of the donations are expensed foreducation. No one takes a wage and n o speak-er has ever asked for an honorarium. Westrive to present our selves as pure to the issue.

We think that purity is very importantand it is highly recommended that ourCanadian cohorts give that look some

thought. Our official policy statement isclear: Patients Out of Time has no otherinterest, nor does the organization have anyopinion, stated or unstated, about any issueother than therapeutic cannabis. No one isconfused about whom we represent or w hatwe want and the federal government hasfound that disarming. No member of thefederal government has ever risen to our callto debate us. The r eason is obvious. They cancall us no name except patient advocatesand we would win.

We also believe that the manner ofpublicly presenting the therapeutic cannabisargument in the US is now counterproduc-tive. Since the beginnin g of the 1960s wh encannabis had escaped from the jazz world inthe US south and m ajor cities; migrated fromthe dens of the beatniks in Harvard Square;and began its journey through the highschools and colleges of the US, the press, t hegovernment, even sometimes by the advo-cates themselves, users of marijuana havebeen presented as young, rebellious, dumb

and of little value.

A parallel line to this canned image of amarijuana user is the representation of these

patients by the legal community. The talkshows, political wisdom programs, evenspecials dealing with medical cannabisfeature a lawyer or a lobbyist discussingmedical use. This is not only an ineffectivevisual message, it is th e wr ong silent messageas well. Our organization believes that theprimary representative who should face thecamera in discussions concerning medicalcannabis is a health care professional. This isour basic criteria and we would like you toconsider adopting it in Canada. This is a

health issue not a legal issue. A health issueshould be discussed and defended by a persontrained in that area of expertise, who has thepractical experience and command of thestate of the art science to do the argumentjustice. Lawyers an d lobbyists are n ot accept-able under that standard. Health care profes-sionals are available and should be u tilized bythe funding and lobbying efforts in bothcountr ies. Medical professionals such as Drs.Ethan Russo, Denis Petro, Mark Ware andJuan Sanchez-Ramos, Registered Nurses

such as Dr. Dreher and M.L. Mathre andspecialists like Michael Aldrich, PhD are allpart of our group and available for the askin g.Th ere are others besides Dr. Ware wh o are inCanada and would present the patients caseequally well. If you have the opportunity inthe future to arrange any press event formedical cannabis please consider t his advice.

Our next major project is The FourthNational Clinical Conference on CannabisTherapeutics to be held in Santa Barbara,

California in a little over a year, hosted byCity College of that location and accreditedby California health organizations. The dat esare April 5-8, 2006. The theme of the confer-ence is: The Body-Mind Connection. Whilevarious aspects of clinical use will be covered,the core of the forum will involve both phys-ical cannabis treatment and the use ofcannabis for PTSD, ADD, depression andother emotional or psychological problems.

We would welcome a Canadian counter-part to our educational mission but until that

time we are providing a venue for cannabisscience th rough ou r clinical conference series.We have changed the media face of a cannabispatient in the US forever by presenting adignified, composed and articulate cast ofpatients. We have elevated the level ofdiscourse about therapeutic cannabis thr oughthe education of health care professionals andtheir organizations an d associations. We willnot give up or grow weary of making thera-peutic cannabis available for all patients. Wecant, we are Patients Out of Time.

20 Cannabis Health

Pat i en t s ou t o f t ime

...that the US governmentpolicy on medical cannabiswas at best, misguided. To usit seemed just plain mean,based on a relentless propa-ganda machine that just liedabout th e issue.


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Cannabis Health 21

Cannabis for the Management ofPain: Assessment of Safety Study(COMPASS)

Funding A gency: CanadianInstitutes of Health Research

Canadian studies have shown that 10-15% of chron ic pain sufferers curren tly use

cannabis to treat their pain. The Canadiangovernment has implemented the MarihuanaMedical Access Regulations to allow patientswith severe pain and other symptoms accessto cannabis for medical purposes. Research-grade cannabis is currently cultivated undercontract to Health Canada, and a quality-controlled product has been available formedical and research purposes since early2003. There is considerable pressure forphysicians to manage the distribution of thismaterial to patients who possess the legal

right to use it, but physicians and th eir organ-izations have pointed out th e lack of informa-

tion on risks an d side-effects associated withmedical use.

The distribution of herbal cannabis topatients under the new regulations hasgenerated concern among provincial medicallicensing authorities, physician advocacygroups and medico-legal advisory groups.Cannabis is an unregulated product, and toolittle is known about the safety and efficacyof cannabis use for physicians and theirinsurers to take responsibility for the supplyof cannabis to patients.

The risks of cannabis use among healthy

populations have been widely studied, butthere is virtually no information on risksassociated with medical use. Concerns aboutrisk of addiction, cognitive impairment,respiratory and cardiovascular damage andendocrine disturbances have been presentedin the research. Chronic pain patients oftentake other medications including pain reliev-ers and antidepressants. Long-term cannabisuse may change the effectiveness of thesedrugs. The potential for long-term effects ofcannabis use on immune function, renal and

liver function and interactions with conven-tional medicines are a concern for medicalRob A ppleton

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users and their physicians, and need to beaddressed in clinical studies.

A first-of-its-kind study of safety issuessurrounding the medical use of cannabis hasjust been laun ched. Known as t he COMPASSstudy (Cann abis for the Man agement of Pain;Assessment of Safety Study), the researchinitiative will follow 1400 chronic painpatients, 350 of whom use cannabis as part oftheir pain management strategy, for a one-year period. Seven participating pain clinicsacross Canada are now enrolling patients forthis study. The study is funded by a $1.8million grant from Health Canada throughthe Mar ijuana Open Label Safety Initiative, agrant partnership program with CanadianInstitutes of Health Research.

The primary objective of this study is tocollect standardized safety data on the u se ofcannabis when used in the treatment ofchronic pain. T he secondary objectives are todescribe dosage patterns for the various paindisorders, collect data on satisfaction withthe Health Canada cannabis product, explorepredisposing factors for adverse events and

examine th e feasibility of w eb-based adverseevent reporting.

Patients in COMPASS will typicallyhave pain resulting from spinal cord injuries,multiple sclerosis, arthritis or other kinds ofhard-to-treat neuropathic or muscle pain,explains Dr. Mar k Ware, principal investiga-tor and pain physician at the McGillUniversity Health Centre Pain Centre. Weare not recruiting cancer patients for thisstudy.

Patients who are 18 years old or above,with chronic non-cancer pain for 6 monthsor longer, and a diagnosis of moderate-to-severe pain, in whom conventional treat-ments have been considered medicallyinappropriate or inadequate will be eligible.Patients who are pregnant or breast-feeding,

or who have a history of psychosis, or withsignificant and unstable ischemic heart

disease or arthymia, or with significant andunstable bronchopulmonary disease will notbe eligible for enrolment. Recruitment ofparticipants is not dependent on previouscannabis use status, however a history ofdrug dependency or discordance betweenself-reported drug use and urine drug screen-ing would be disqualifying factors.

Only cannabis grown under contract toHealth Cana da, by Prairie Plant Systems Inc.

will be used in this study. The cannabis isstandardized to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabi-nol (THC) content (14 + -1% ) and

cannabidiol (CBD) conten t (0.4% ).Cannabis will be distributed and dispensedby on-site pharmacies in foil packets, eachcontaining 30 grams of dried herbal materi-al. Participants must not use any othersource of cannabis during the study.

Dosage will be established at onset bystudy physicians and will be titrated gradual-ly over a one month period to the desired drugeffect or until intolerable side effects develop.The average daily dosage of cannabis in thisstudy will not exceed 3g per day.

Most current medicinal cannabis usersemploy smoking as the primary delivery

system, however participants in this studymay use other modes as well, includingvaporization an d ingestion in pr epared food.Subjects who currently use cannabis willcontinue to use it in the manner to whichthey are accustomed.

All participants will undergo a baselinehealth, medical and quality of life assess-ment. Regular visits with their investigatorwill allow for adjustment of dosage, wherenecessary, and collection of data pertainingto the effects of treatment. Subjects will usetheir usual medication and any changes indosage will be recorded. They will undergoblood and urine tests, heart tests (ECG),chest X-rays and lung fun ction tests at specif-ic intervals during the study, as well as testsof memory and concentration.

All adverse effects will be recorded foreach participant over a on e-year follow-up.

The study will provide 350 patient-yearsof safety data on medical cannabis use, witha large control group for comparison. The

information gathered will assist in policydecisions an d inform discussions of cannabisuse between patients and physicians. Thedata will complement other studies underthis in itiative.

The study results will be written upfollowing completion of data collection andanalysis. The total duration of the study,from funding to publication of results, isexpected to be three years.

Patients wishing to participate in the

COMPASS study should call 1-866-302-4636(toll-free) and leave their names and tele-phone numbers. A study coordinator willcontact prospective patients to assesswhether they meet study requirements. Allpatient information will be held in strictconfidence. Further information is availablefrom www.gereq.net/compass.

C o m p a s s

Af i r s t - o f - i t s -k i ndstudy of safetyissues surrounding

the medical use ofcannabis has justbeen launched.

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By, Paul A rmentano, senior policy analyst for

NORM L and the NOR ML Foundation in

Washington, DC. NOR ML is a nonprofit,

public-interest lobby that for m ore than 30

years has provided a voice for those citizens

who oppose marijuana prohibition. N OR ML,

along with it s sister organization, the

NORML Foundation, seeks through public

education, lobbyin g and public advocacy toassist legislators sympathetic to marijuana

law reform at the local, state and federal level;

educate the public and the m edia about

alternati ves to crim inal prohibition; transform

inaccurate and di scrim inat ory stereotypes

regarding m arijuana users; and sway public

and political opin-

ion sufficiently so

that the medicinal

and responsible use

of cannabis byadults is no longer

subject to penalty.

To learn more about

NORML and the

NORML

Foundation, please

visit:

www.norml.org or

call toll free: 1-888-

67-NORML.

Pot May Cure CancerBut Not If USPoliticians Have Their WayClinical research published recently in th ejournals Cancer Research and BMCMedicine tou ting the ability of cannabis tostave the spread of certain cancers is thelatest in a three-decade long line of studiesdemonstrat ing pots potential as ananticancer agent.

Not famili ar wi th this res earch? Yourenot alone.

For more than 30 years, politicians andbureaucrats, primarily in the United States,have turn ed a blind eye to any and all scienceindicating that marijuana may play a role incancer prevention, a finding that was firstdocumented as early as 1974. That year, aresearch team at the Medical College ofVirginia (acting at the behest of the federalgovernment, which must pre-approve all USresearch on marijuana) discovered thatcannabis inhibited malignant tumor cellgrowth in culture and in mice. According to

the studys results, reported nationally in anAugust 18, 1974, Washington Post newspa-per featur e, marijuanas psychoactive compo-nent THC, slowed the growth of lungcancers, breast cancers and a virus-inducedleukemia in laboratory mice, and prolongedtheir lives by as much as 36 percent .

Despite these favorable preliminary find-ings, US government officials dismissed the

study (which was eventually published in theJournal of the National Cancer Institute in1975), and refused to fund any follow-upresearch un til conducting a similar thoughsecret clinical trial in th e mid-1990s. Thatstudy, conducted by the US NationalToxicology Program to the tune of twomillion dollars, concluded that mice and ratsadministered high doses of THC over long

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24 Cannabis Health

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periods had greater protection against malig-nant tumors than u ntreated controls.

Rather than publicize their findings,government researchers once again shelvedthe results, which only came to light after adraft copy of the findings were leaked in1997 to a medical journal which in turnforwarded the story to the national media.

Nevertheless, in the eight years since thecompletion of the National Toxicology trial,the US government has yet to encourage orfund additional follow-up studies examiningthe drugs potential to protect against the

spread of cancerous tumors.Fortunately, scientists outside of North

America have generously picked up whereUS researchers so abruptly left off. In 199 8, aresearch team at Madrids ComplutenseUniversity discovered that THC can selec-tively induce programmed cell death in braintumor cells without negatively impactingsurrounding healthy cells. Then in 2000,they reported in the journal Nature Medicinethat injections of synthetic THC eradicatedmalignant gliomas (brain tumors) in one-

third of treated rats, and prolonged life inanother third by six weeks.

In 2003, researchers at the University ofMilan in Naples, Italy, reported in theJournal of Pharmacology and ExperimentalTherapeutics that non-psychoactivecompounds in marijuana inhibited thegrowth of glioma cells in a dose-dependent

manner, and selectively targeted and killedmalignant cells through a process known as

apoptosis.More recently, researchers reported in

the August 15, 2004 issue of CancerResearch, the journal of the AmericanAssociation for Cancer Research, that marijuanas constituents inhibited the spread ofbrain cancer in human tumor biopsies. In arelated development, a research team fromthe University of South Florida further notedthat TH C can also selectively inhibit th e acti-vation and replication of gamma herpesviruses. The viruses, which can lie dormant

for years within white blood cells beforebecoming active and spreading to oth er cells,are thought to increase ones chances ofdeveloping cancers such as Kaposis Sarcoma,Burkitts lymphoma an d H odgkins disease.

Regrettably, politicians in Nort h A mericahave been little swayed by these results, andremain steadfastly opposed to the notion ofsponsorin g or even ackn owledging thisgrowing body of clinical research. Th eir stub-born refusal to do so is a disservice not only

to the scientific process, but also to th e healthof the seriously ill.

Nonetheless, it appears that their silencewill be unable to put this genie back in thebottle, as overseas research continues tomove forward at a staggering pace. Writinglast fall in the journal of the AmericanSociety of Hematology, researchers at SaintBartholomews Hospital in London reported

that THC induces cell death (apoptosis) inthree leukemic cell lines. Authors further

noted that the cannabinoid appears to func-tion in manner different than standardchemotherapeutic agents such as cisplatin,and begins taking effect within mere hoursafter administration.

Swiss researchers are also weighing in onthe use of cannabinoids anticancer proper-ties, reporting in a recent study published inthe Journal of Neuropathology andExperimental Neurology that endogenouscannabinoids (naturally occurringcompounds in the body that bind to the same

receptors as the cannabinoids in marijuana)induced apoptosis in long-term and recentlyestablished glioma cell lines. Even morenotably, a review article published inSeptember in the journalNeuropharmacology concluded that cannabi-noids ability to selectively target and killmalignant cells set the basis for their poten-tial use in the management of various typesof cancers.

Unfortunately, as long as North

American politicians continue putting potpolitics before patient s lives, it appears thatany potential breakthroughs regarding thepotentially curative powers of cannabis willonly emerge in a land far, far away wellbeyond the reach of close-mindedWashington and Canadian bureaucrats.

Cannabis Health 25

C a n c e r C u r e C o v e r U p

Human Hemp Hea l t h

Hemp Users Medical Access

Network HUMAN

Author: Blaine Dowdle,

Founder/Operator

Human beings and cannabis have

enjoyed a symbiotic relationship stretchingback to the dawn of civilization. It has arecorded history of being used as a foodsource, medicine and raw material for manyindustries for at least the past 8000 years.However, during the past hundred years ofthe modern era blind forces have driven usinto a disconnected relationship with natureand the ability of the earth to sustain ourmaterial needs. Prohibition against cannabiswas one of the main instruments deceptivelyconceived in order to break down societys

agricultural and natural foundation and toprotect the interests and resour ce monopoliesof major petrochemical companies. Many

cannabis-based industries were preventedfrom developing and the sin gle most balancedfood source for humanity, the cannabis seed,was removed from our food supply. In addi-tion, the pharmaceutical industry refused toutilize the traditional therapeutic propertiesof cannabis. As a result, millions of peoplewith common and chronic conditions wereprevented from gaining access to the safeeffective relief cannabis could have provided.As time progressed, the ills and toxicity ofexclusively using petrochemicals and phar-maceuticals became more apparent and noalternative was widely recognized ordiscussed. Whats more, the nutritional defi-ciencies of the processed diet were beingrecognized as having detrimental individualand societal health effects with no curative

dietary alternative available. Rightfully thissituation was not unchallenged and, thanksto the dedicated work of thousands of indi-

viduals, the hidden tr uth about cannabis andits un ique ability to ease the harm s in each ofthese situations was not forgotten.

In the bustling metropolis of the GreaterToronto A rea lives a large contin gent of ther-apeutic cannabis users who have found the

benefits of cannabis outweigh the propagan-da, hassle and fear of obtaining it. Whetherthey h ad difficulty finding access to cann abisseed or oil, or locating safe effective medicalgrade cannabis, many had to expose them-selves to the dangerous nature of the blackmarket just to access nutritional or medicaltreatment. This eased somewhat in the late1990s with the resurrection of the commer-cial cultivation of cannabis for food andtextiles on Canadian farms, and the monu-mental Parker decision requiring a constitu-

tional medical exemption. The continuedprohibition on cannabis handcuffed thefledgling food and textile industries in red



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tape and delayed the effective implementa-tion of the Parker decision w ith confusion. As

before, it was th e role of the in dividuals whohad benefited first hand from the nutritiveand medical benefits of cannabis to enlightenthe populace. Unfortunately the Fed

Cannabis Health - [March/April Edition 2005]

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