Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Martin Kaneva is no longer a criminal, even as he plants his first marijuana crop.
The 39-year-old cancer patient had been buying and using the weed illegally during what felt like an endless wait for a licence from Health Canada under the agency’s national medical marijuana program.
“It will still be at least two-and-a-half months before it’s ready to harvest,” said Kaneva, who was diagnosed in December 2009 with metastatic gastric cancer and had been waiting since June for Health Canada to issue the legal authorization enabling him to fill a marijuana prescription issued by a doctor.
He finally received the licence in November and planted the first crop recently in an out-of-town industrial building wired by a registered electrician, “so it’s all safe,” he said.
“I’m actually doing it with another person who is sick as well,” Kaneva said in an interview. “Their garden will be right beside mine.”
Until the crop matures, he’s still getting marijuana from a compassion club in Toronto that he does not want to identify, because it’s illegal for that group to provide weed.
Kaneva was among hundreds of Canadians awaiting a licence under a program that Health Canada acknowledges has been massively backed up. The agency says it is trying to improve the response time for patients who should be permitted to legally use weed for medical purposes.
Kaneva, former executive chef at Carmen’s Banquet Centre, uses marijuana to offset the impact of chemotherapy and radiation — a process that just finished. He gets an update on the state of his cancer in January. He also uses weed to stimulate his appetite, ease his depression and reduce pain.
“Now I can have up to seven ounces on me legally at any time,” Kaneva said.
“I don’t feel like a criminal any more. I can carry it with me. I’m not nervous now.”
Since his case came to public attention in the media, on Facebook and through medical marijuana advocacy groups, he’s had calls, e-mails and posts from supporters, many facing the same kind of wait.
“Nobody entitled to use marijuana should have to go through this,” he said.
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 enable patients to grow weed themselves or receive it from a supplier contracted by the federal government. Health Canada does not disclose the number of people on the wait list for a licence.
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: thespec.com
Copyright: 2011 Metroland Media Group Ltd.
Contact: The Spec : Contact us | TheSpec.com
Website: TheSpec - Medical marijuana user now has licence, and crop in...
The 39-year-old cancer patient had been buying and using the weed illegally during what felt like an endless wait for a licence from Health Canada under the agency’s national medical marijuana program.
“It will still be at least two-and-a-half months before it’s ready to harvest,” said Kaneva, who was diagnosed in December 2009 with metastatic gastric cancer and had been waiting since June for Health Canada to issue the legal authorization enabling him to fill a marijuana prescription issued by a doctor.
He finally received the licence in November and planted the first crop recently in an out-of-town industrial building wired by a registered electrician, “so it’s all safe,” he said.
“I’m actually doing it with another person who is sick as well,” Kaneva said in an interview. “Their garden will be right beside mine.”
Until the crop matures, he’s still getting marijuana from a compassion club in Toronto that he does not want to identify, because it’s illegal for that group to provide weed.
Kaneva was among hundreds of Canadians awaiting a licence under a program that Health Canada acknowledges has been massively backed up. The agency says it is trying to improve the response time for patients who should be permitted to legally use weed for medical purposes.
Kaneva, former executive chef at Carmen’s Banquet Centre, uses marijuana to offset the impact of chemotherapy and radiation — a process that just finished. He gets an update on the state of his cancer in January. He also uses weed to stimulate his appetite, ease his depression and reduce pain.
“Now I can have up to seven ounces on me legally at any time,” Kaneva said.
“I don’t feel like a criminal any more. I can carry it with me. I’m not nervous now.”
Since his case came to public attention in the media, on Facebook and through medical marijuana advocacy groups, he’s had calls, e-mails and posts from supporters, many facing the same kind of wait.
“Nobody entitled to use marijuana should have to go through this,” he said.
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 enable patients to grow weed themselves or receive it from a supplier contracted by the federal government. Health Canada does not disclose the number of people on the wait list for a licence.
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: thespec.com
Copyright: 2011 Metroland Media Group Ltd.
Contact: The Spec : Contact us | TheSpec.com
Website: TheSpec - Medical marijuana user now has licence, and crop in...
