Given all the bad media relations Health Canada medicinal marijuana program has you would think they’d issue a press release when they get it right. The backlog of applications, according to their website, has been cleared up. There’s a big announcement directly on their homepage about their ability to process applications back to normal wait times. Media had tarred the agency for its failure.
Possibly because people smoking pot sells papers. Currently disabled Ontario residents face wait times of 18 months to find out if their application to Ontario Disability Support Program is accepted. There’s plenty of waiting when it comes to government. Yet this particular wait time received media attention. How is government wait news? Was it media that shamed Health Canada into acting?
I don’t think so. Something much better than media made Health Canada act.

White Russian Marijuana Strain

Medicinal marijuana activists stepped up and campaigned heavily to fix the problem. Putting pressure on Minister of Health to solve their problem. Protesting on cold winter days sucks, but a hardy group of sick people did just that. Letter writing and phone calling campaigns were undertaken. Small groups of people organized themselves and pressured government in a manner they were most comfortable with.
On the end of activists fist was MP Libby Davies. A champion of cannabis people everywhere. MP Davies stood up in the House of Commons during Question Period and asked on Oct 19, 2010.
“Chronically ill Canadians are waiting months to get and renew permits for access to medical marijuana. Patients are being cut off from their legally prescribed medication because of an under-resourced overly bureaucratic application process. Mr. Speaker, people don’t want to break the law to access and use their legally prescribed drugs. Will the Minister stop treating patients like criminals and commit the necessary resources to end these dangerously long processing times?”
When potheads ask me what has NDP done for the marijuana movement, this is my first example of exactly what the party has done. MP Davies isn’t acting alone during question period. The caucus determines how to proceed during such a vitally important segment of the parliamentary agenda. Question period is a great opportunity to dig into the government to find out what’s really going on.
Combined pressure (from the people and a receptive politician who will champion their cause in House of Commons) makes things happen. Think what more New Democrat MPs could do. They could hold more ministers’ accountable! Their community office could assist people wading through government red tape, like the medicinal marihuana program, to get the results they need.
Of course a Conservative majority would result in government cutbacks. Finding government waste for the Cons means layoffs, wait times and program cuts. Legally speaking government can’t eliminate their medical marijuana program, but they can make wait times lengthy. By having less staff, resources and money in the budget. The wait times are a planned Conservative ploy and will return if they get a majority government.