Medical Marijuana Support Group
BC Southern Interior MP Alex Atamanenko, met with members of the Grand Forks Medical Marijuana Support Group on a January visit to the Boundary town.
Members shared their stories of the challenges of their diseases such as cancer with Atamanenko, and their frustrations with unsuccessful prescription medications to treat their symptoms and conditions. Some members were licensed as Health Canada Medical Marijuana AR licensees, some were family members of medical marijuana users and some were concerned citizens.
“The use of medical marijuana is legal, but unfortunately access is often denied,” said Atamanenko. “The licensing process can be onerous to a sick person, much more so than obtaining a normal prescription.”
“At our meeting, I listened to some gut-wrenching stories of people suffering from various illnesses who have had difficulty in obtaining medical marijuana. This should not be the case. The social stigma of marijuana should not create barriers to prevent patients from obtaining necessary treatments to alleviate suffering.”
The Support Group assists patients to complete Health Canada applications to obtain Medical Marijuana AR licenses, with their doctor’s approval. Marijuana has been shown to bring relief for some chronic conditions like MS and helpful in pain maintenance for cancer patients, for example. The Support Group also provides a safe, compassionate space to converse with other medical marijuana users and supporters and gain education on the medicinal plant and its health applications.
The group is petitioning government leaders to promote the goal of the BC government assuming the regulation and licensing of medical marijuana under the Ministry of Health Living. The use of marijuana as a medicine has been legal since 2001, and the group believes it should be treated in a similar way to other prescription drugs.
Tags: marijuana