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Hashishi

Medical marijuana user files human rights complaint over smoking laws
5-28-'08 | CBC

Ontario regulations banning medicinal-marijuana users from smoking on bar and restaurant patios violate the human rights of people with disabilities, alleges an Ottawa man who has filed a complaint over the issue.

Russell Barth submitted the complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission on Monday on behalf of himself and his wife, Christine Lowe.

"We're not asking for special rights; we're just asking for the right to use cannabis where people use tobacco," Barth, an amateur comedian, said Tuesday.

The letter accompanying the complaint alleges that the Ontario ban "infringes on our rights to gain access to services and infringes on our ability to perform on stage and to seek possible future employment as performers.

"It has also caused us much stress, ill health, embarrassment and humiliation."

Barth said he obtained a Health Canada licence to use medical marijuana in 2003 after being diagnosed with a variety of disorders, including post-traumatic stress syndrome, asthma and fibromyalgia, a syndrome characterized by fatigue and multiple pain points in muscles throughout the body.

He lives on a disability pension and is a full-time care giver for Lowe, who has epilepsy and also uses medical marijuana.

Barth said he needs the drug every two to three hours to treat his own medical symptoms.

"If I am having a muscle spasm, if I'm having nausea or anxiety or an asthma attack, I need to have my medicine immediately," he said.

On May 7, after performing at the amateur night of a comedy club in Ottawa, Barth said he began to feel intense pain in his legs and went outside to the outdoor patio area, where people were smoking tobacco.

He walked to the edge of the patio and was about to light up a joint when he was approached by a friend who worked at the comedy club. The staffer asked him not to smoke on the premises because of provisions of the Ontario Liquor Licence Act that ban liquor-licence holders from allowing people to consume a controlled substance on their property.

Afterward, a friend suggested that the incident was the fault of the government's regulations, not the bar owner.

Barth read the regulations and agreed that was the case.

Ontario law has no exemption for medical marijuana

Ontario Liquor Licence Act, Section 45. (2):

The licence holder shall not permit a person to hold, offer for sale, sell, distribute or consume a controlled substance as defined in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Canada) on the premises or in the adjacent washrooms, liquor and food preparation areas and storage areas under the exclusive control of the licence holder. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 719, s. 45 (2); O. Reg. 247/02, s. 17; O. Reg. 24/04, s. 1.

Lisa Murray, a spokeswoman for the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, said there is no provision or exemption for the use of medical marijuana in the regulations on controlled substances as they are currently written.

Under Health Canada's medical marijuana rules, people who possess marijuana for medical use must follow all other federal, provincial and municipal laws regarding controlled substances.

"Smoking marijuana for medical purposes in a public setting, thereby potentially exposing others to the drug's effects, is unacceptable," states a federal government document on the issue. "The authorization simply allows possession but does not give patients permission to use marijuana wherever or whenever he/she chooses; the rights of others must also be considered."

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sterbo

I suppose that a lawsuit like this was inevitable,
but in the greater scheme of things, choosing this moment in time, is rather selfish.

Of course the plaintiff is correct, but hell, why not use a portable vape. Or just eat it?
Bad timing if you ask me...

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Buzzby

I don't think that medical marijuana users need to push in this particular direction at this time. I only wish that I could use it here in Ohio without risking prosecution. Getting pushy with people who don't want marijuana smoked in their presence just alienates people who might be medical marijuana supporters.

I've never seen a diabetic shoot himself up with insulin in public settings and insulin doesn't pervade an area the way smoke does. It's just common courtesy to not annoy people unnecessarily.

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Potbelly

No need to push the limit this far...cigarettes are not acceptable indoors or outdoors at a restaurant so why push it with weed.

Rauch|Drogen

Actually, the individual in this case was seeking to smoke on the patio of a club, where smoking cigarettes is widely accepted, at least here in Canada.. Where do people smoke cigarettes where you live? o.0

- Rauch|Drogen

 

sterbo

If I had my way?
Wherever other people would not have to smell or breath it,
or animals, or insects, or plants - Hmm, did I forget anyone?
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reggie_the_dog

Cannabis is far more accepted in Canada. There is a formal federal cannabis medicine program and the state of laws banning cannabis in general are being disputed. They do not want special treatment, they want the right to smoke cannabis where people smoke tobacco.