A Brief History of Canada's Medical Cannabis Program

In 1999, the federal government of Canada was forced by the Ontario Supreme Court to regulate legal access to medical cannabis for our nation's sick and suffering citizens who might benefit from its use. This program, which is currently administered by the Marijuana Medical Access Division of Health Canada, has been a terrible disappointment, and has failed our nation's critically and chronically ill in every way.

The Three Failures of the Marijuana Medical Access Division: Access, Supply and Research.

Lack of Access:

Since its inception, this federal program has been found unconstitutional by courts in Alberta and Ontario, and despite polling that suggests that over 1 million Canadians currently use cannabis for medical purposes, Health Canada has only registered 1300 people into the federal program over the last six years. By comparison, Canada's well-established network of community-based dispensaries currently assist over 10,000 people, yet remain unlicensed and illegal.

Lack of Supply Options:

Despite spending over $7 million over the last six years on a federal production facility, the federal cannabis supply has only been accessed by less than 20% of legal users, and has been the source of significant criticism by end-users and advocates alike. It has recently been revealed that out of the 300 or so users who have accessed this source of cannabis, over half have been unable to pay for their supply, so Health Canada has sent a collection agency after these critically and chronically ill Canadians, actually cutting off 19 users from accessing this supply, which is currently Canada's only legal source of cannabis.

Lack of Research:

Despite an official commitment from Health Canada to rigorously pursue research into the therapeutic potential of cannabis, only two clinical studies have been funded by the federal government since 1999, and in the fall of 2006 they cancelled the medicial cannabis research program. In fact, nearly all of the medical cannabis research currently taking place in Canada is being conducted by community-based dispensaries or private corporations, with little or no assistance from Health Canada.