The news broke today: Quebec Police RAID all Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Quebec.
Angry and saddened, I left a comment after the story: Medical marijuana clubs raided in Montreal:
Do the police have nothing better to do than raid Compassion Clubs that help sick people? Have all the murderers and rapists and domestic abusers and paedophiles been caught in Quebec that shutting down Cannabis Dispensaries are the police priority?
Cannabis has never killed anyone but Big Pharma drugs have - should we be forced to take these narcotics where the side effects include death? BTW, legal prescription medications are the 4th. leading cause of death in Canada, including deaths in hospital settings - but Cannabis is the "bad" drug? The hypocrisy is astounding.
"Side Effects May Include...Coma or Death?!"
Damaging the CALM
International Researchers Reveal Medical Cannabis Breakthroughs!
And please, for everyone here commenting and voicing their disapproval about Cannabis prohibition, please contact your MP about Bill S-10 - the Tories are trying to introduce even tougher laws for Cannabis: "Bill S-10 ~ New Name For Bad Law"
even though: Drug War Continues to Fail Spectacularly - AP: IMPACT: After 40 years, $1 trillion, US War on Drugs has failed to meet any of its goals. -
~Fin
And again I'd like to post:
"The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.
It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.
We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.
We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community." ~ The Charter for Compassion
UPDATE:
Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy (CSSDP)
CSSDP Statement on Compassion Club Raids
Already in 2010 several medical marijuana compassion clubs have been raided by police in Iqaluit, Guelph, Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City. Staff have been given or threatened with criminal trafficking charges. Patients unfortunate enough to be inside at the time of the raids have been detained, questioned, and charged for attempting to access medicine that has been produced safely and responsibly. The clubs have had their contents confiscated, crippling their ability to conduct business, and more importantly denying patients safe and secure access to medication.
Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy (CSSDP) is firmly opposed to these raids. We are firmly opposed to the use of police enforcement against the only real challenge to organized crime, responsible regulation. CSSDP is firmly opposed to the war on drugs, as it has clearly become a war on the sick, a war on youth, a war on people of colour and people living in poverty, a war on communities in Canada and around the world.
Compassion clubs exist because the Canadian government has refused to update the Medical Marijuana Access Regulations so that the regulations work for patients, and not against them. Thousands of Canadians who use cannabis medically depend on compassion clubs for secure access to safely and responsibly produced medicine. Why? One reason is because Health Canada only offers one strain of cannabis, despite the fact that there are hundreds of varieties, with differing benefits, which treat different ailments.
Robert Ling, president of the McMaster CSSDP chapter is one of these Canadians who depend upon compassion clubs for safe access to safe medicine. When asked about the raids, he stated
“The raids going on throughout Canada are a travesty for anyone who needs medicinal cannabis. I waited 12 weeks for my last MMAR renewal, so I had to live in fear, worrying that a trip to a compassionate center to get the medicine my doctor has prescribed may end me up in jail. This is another example of how medical cannabis users are discriminated against. The Canadian government and police departments all over Canada have to realize that jailing sick Canadians gets us nowhere. A lot of people, like myself, are productive because of the cannabis they use. Without this vital medication, I am usually bed ridden and forced to live out my day in extreme pain. Cannabis has allowed me to be productive through some of the worst pains I have experienced in my life. I was able to finish two years of intensive university school work in part thanks to this drug. Disabled Canadians deserve a productive life like everyone else and this definitely is not the case when we raid compassionate centers which provide sick Canadians the medicine they need. Raiding compassionate centers will only force sick people like me to go back on the streets picking up the medication we need from black market sources. This has to stop!”
Compassion clubs provide a necessary medical service for thousands of Canadians. CSSDP calls for an end to these raids and that there be appropriate legal protection for medical marijuana compassion clubs. ~
Originally published HERE, please visit their website for more great links and info regarding Canadian Drug Policy.
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