The Canadian Supreme Court ruled yesterday that medical marijuana is legal in both inhalable and consumable forms throughout the country. Previously, medical marijuana had only been legal in Canada in the dried form that is smoked. The ruling was unanimous.
Restricting medical access to marijuana to a dried form has now been declared "null and void" — Sections 4 and 5 of the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, which prohibits possession and trafficking of non-dried forms of cannabis, will no longer be in effect.
The respondent in this case, Owen Smith, called it "a very emotional day."
"I'm proud and really happy today for all those people who are going to benefit from this ruling," he said at a press conference in Victoria, B.C.
The decision upholds earlier rulings by lower courts in British Columbia that said they went against a person's right to consume medical marijuana in the form they choose.
Many users felt smoking it was even potentially harmful. However, methods such as brewing marijuana leaves in tea or baking cannabis into brownies left patients vulnerable to being charged with possession and trafficking under the law.
This is common sense legislation. Cannabis is cannabis, regardless of what form it is consumed. Cannabis oil is obviously far easier to administer to a sick patient (particularly a young epileptic) than lighting up a pipe or a blunt. Medical marijuana is often looked at as a dead-last resort after everything else has failed--and it's pointless to restrict which forms can be used. Good job, Canada.