Legalization Of Marijuana For Health And Medical Reasons  At the time, I asked the Deputy Minister of Health to provide clarifications on the use of marijuana for health purposes in the fight against AIDS, to alleviate the suffering of AIDS victims. I raised this issue following representations made by Jean-Charles Pariseau, of Hull, who regained some strength after inhaling marijuana.

Health  Mr. Speaker, last year Health Canada released a research plan for marijuana for medicinal purposes. It made clear that a made in Canada policy for the medicinal use of marijuana would require the establishment of a domestic source of quality, research grade marijuana.

Legalization Of Marijuana For Health And Medical Purposes  Marijuana has been used medicinally throughout the world for thousands of years. Today many patients, particularly those suffering from cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and other diseases, testify to the marked relief they obtain from inhaling marijuana.

Legalization Of Marijuana For Health And Medical Purposes  It certainly does not answer the question about all those individuals who have been charged as a result of possession of marijuana for medical purposes, nor does it address the question of whether individuals currently under doctor's orders to access marijuana will be charged in the first place. We have many questions that must be addressed.

Legalization Of Marijuana For Health And Medical Purposes  That is very important. I heard the member opposite use the term legalizing of marijuana. People should know that we are not talking about the legalizing of marijuana. What this does is it creates a research environment where we can do the research, gather the evidence and in that environment, just as we would with any other drug, make it available to people in a research context.

Legalization Of Marijuana For Health And Medical Purposes  This plant, which probably came originally from Asia, has been cultivated for a very long time. The street language has given marijuana different names, including pot and grass in English. In India, medium quality marijuana is called bang and high quality marijuana is called ganga. It is called kif in Marocco, dagga in South Africa and ganga in Jamaica.

Supply  It is responsible for labelling tobacco a dangerous product or not. Then there is the whole debate on marijuana—and we are aware of this whole aspect because under the criminal code, the federal government has jurisdiction in this area. But it has never been the intent of the constitution or the confederation for the federal government to have the slightest responsibility for health care or education.

Contraventions Act  Put another way, would we allow organized crime to continue to profit from trafficking in marijuana or would we make a serious attempt to diminish its profits? There is also a more practical difficulty with Bill C-344. That is the fact that some provinces have not yet agreed on a memorandum of understanding with the federal government concerning the Contraventions Act.

House debate  The House resumed from November 7, 2001 consideration of the motion that Bill C-344, an act to amend the Contraventions Act and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marijuana), be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, police recently raided 189 homes and seized over 50,000 marijuana plants worth $56 million through Operation Green Sweep and this is only the tip of the iceberg. However, most of the people arrested will only get a fine or some form of community sentence such as house arrest.

National Security  However I can assure the House and all Canadians that other priorities certainly are at the forefront. In fact, on Wednesday one of the largest raids against indoor marijuana growing took place. Yesterday the police announced the takedown of a major credit card fraud operation with the co-operation of police forces in Canada and the United States. Police forces in Canada and the United States are working together to make sure that we live in a safe society.

Canada Customs and Revenue Agency  This state of the art technology will allow customs officers in British Columbia to more effectively prevent illegal drugs from entering Canada. In fact, last year the customs marine team made a seizure of marijuana which was the largest ever in British Columbia. That seizure resulted in 1,700 kilos being kept off our streets and away from our children. The VACIS machine was funded by the Vancouver Port Authority as part of its joint partnership with CCRA.

Legalization Of Marijuana For Health And Medical Purposes  Of course, I am glad to join all those who have worked together to urge the federal government to have the political courage and the leadership to recognize the medicinal value of marijuana by immediately implementing measures to legalize the use of marijuana for therapeutic purposes. As my colleague from New Brunswick Southwest said, this issue must be addressed from a compassionate point of view.

Legalization Of Marijuana For Health And Medical Purposes  The British Medical Association goes even further: it has called on the British government to take all necessary steps to authorize the therapeutic use of marijuana, while respecting all established scientific criteria. The British Medical Association has also publicly encouraged the police and the courts to tolerate use of marijuana for therapeutic purposes.

Canadian Alliance  Speaker, once again, there is dissension in the ranks of the Canadian Alliance. Unlike their leader, members of his party feel that simple possession of marijuana should be decriminalized. The party's critic, who is now drafting the party's justice policy, supports decriminalization for simple possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana. This is the sort of issue that clearly demonstrates to Canadians the confusion that reigns in Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.