RCMP DRUG RAID WAS DOPEY

The sight of AIDS victim Jean-Charles Pariseau crying as he watched
RCMP officers smash marijuana-growing equipment outside a Vanier home
this week brought the issue of medical marijuana home with a thud.
For people like Mr. Pariseau, whose weight dropped to nearly 70 pounds
before he began using marijuana to stimulate his appetite and help him
gain pounds, the issue is neither political nor ethical. It is simply
necessary.

That is the real face of the debate over medical marijuana, a debate
that is slowly beginning to make official waves in Canada. Just two
weeks ago, Health Minister Allan Rock announced plans to conduct
clinical trials to see if marijuana can reduce pain in terminally ill
patients. But Canada is far from leading the way in rethinking
marijuana. Wednesday, just about the time RCMP officers staged a raid
on the Vanier basement apartment, an advisory panel to the U.S.
government said marijuana can help fight pain and nausea and should be
tested.

People like Mr. Pariseau have already found that out through sheer
desperation. They have set up an informal network so that there is a
safe supply of the marijuana they need and use. That is what the
St-Denis Street apartment, where police seized 178 plants and growing
equipment, was known as to a number of local AIDS and cancer patients
who use marijuana: a place where they could get a steady discount
supply of the drug. Mr. Pariseau and others say the RCMP raid means
they will now be forced to buy drugs on the street.

All of which raises a number of questions. Why, two weeks after the
federal government has given the official green light to studying
medicinal marijuana, was it necessary to swoop down on one of the
biggest local suppliers of the drug to the sick and dying? Why not
wait until the federal government position on medical marijuana
becomes clear? Why make it harder for sick and dying people to get
some brief relief?

What purpose did the raid serve? Do we want to protect people like Mr.
Pariseau, who is dying, from some adverse health effects? Don't our
police officers have better things to do?

The RCMP was, of course, just doing its job. "It's not a debate for
us," said Cpl. Marc Richer. "The legislation is still there for us to
enforce."

Which is technically correct. But, in fact, laws governing marijuana
are interpreted to varying degrees. In some parts of the country
people are commonly arrested and some jailed for possessing a small
amount of marijuana. In other areas charges are seldom laid for possession.

Many police and justice officials, including Ottawa-Carleton Chief
Brian Ford, are among those who support the decriminalization of
marijuana laws. And there are good reasons why police and justice
officials would do so. Enforcing marijuana laws is costly at a time
when there are seldom enough resources to go around, and there is a
growing body of evidence that raises questions about what good, if
any, comes from such zealous enforcement.

Even so, according to Stats Canada, nearly half of the 66,000 drug
charges laid in Canada in 1997 were for simple possession of marijuana.

So police forces are still stuck with legislation that is enforced
with relish in some parts of the country and seldom enforced in
others. That is a problem, one that elected officials will have to
deal with sooner, rather than later.

Meanwhile, we have a recognition at many levels that marijuana is
valuable for many sick and dying people. This growing awareness is
underlined by the federal government, which announces plans to study
the medical uses of marijuana.

What a strange time for the RCMP to become zealous about cracking down
on marijuana grown for medical purposes, even if they suspect some of
the marijuana they seized might be used for non-medicinal purposes.
People like Mr. Pariseau can't wait for the clinical tests to be
completed and evaluated. They can't wait for the debate about
medicinal marijuana to work its way into policy.

They will die before there is an official answer to what is, after
all, a pretty straightforward question.

Shouldn't people in pain be allowed some relief?