doingdishes
Well-Known Member
https://ipolitics.ca/2018/08/17/hundreds-of-court-claims-allege-delays-in-permits-to-grow-medical-pot/
Dealing with Health Canada bureaucracy to get a permit to grow medical cannabis at home is a “complete nightmare,” says a man taking the government to court alleging lengthy processing delays that he says violate his Charter rights.
Jeff Harris, 49, an accountant in Burnaby, B.C., has been using medical cannabis since 2010 and has a designated grower to cultivate his medical marijuana for him.
It’s a “nightmare” trying to navigate government bureaucracy and learn about how far along your own application is, Harris tells iPolitics. “All they’ll tell you is they got your paperwork and they’re working on processing it.”
His case became the lead claim out of what are now hundreds of similar actions filed against Health Canada citing administrative delays on getting their permits.
“Being the lead on almost 300, there’s a lot of pressure to get it right,” he said.
“A lot of these people who are using medical cannabis, a lot of them aren’t working because of their injuries. These delays cost money and that’s the problem.” None of the claims has been proven in court.
The judge dealing with Harris’s federal court case recently shot down a request by the Crown to strike his claim as frivolous and vexatious. Had the judge accepted the Crown’s argument on Harris’ claim, it may have also resulted in the court “striking some 200 similar case-managed actions,” the decision said.
Harris’s claim argues that not having enough staff to process a high volume of applications is a “lame excuse to delay the processing of medicinal permits” and that taking “over five months to key in the information to the computer is excessive.”
Health Canada told iPolitics earlier this year it had hired a dozens of new staff to deal with “the large volume of registration applications that Health Canada continues to receive.”
At the time, the department said processing times were “improving” after it added staff and made “internal process improvements.”
Similar claims have been made based off of a template from a website on the Internet set up by medical marijuana activist John Turmel – an engineer otherwise known in the political arena as Canada’s most defeated election candidate.
It’s not the first time Turmel has handed out court templates. He had distributed court claim kits related to medical marijuana permit applications, which led to hundreds of court claims being filed in 2014. Long before that, he said he also distributed templates for claims designed to fight home foreclosures.
This time, he said he distributed the templates after hearing stories of patients waiting “six months, eight months, 10 months, 11 months to get [their] permit authorized,” and pointed to a recent court claim citing a nine-month delay.
“We have these horror stories of delays and it’s pure bureaucracy,” Turmel said.
One of the forces behind the mass of claims is the belief that filing in court speeds up permit processing – something he advertises on his website: “If you applied and have waited over four weeks and want to bump your authorization or renewal to the top of their attention, you can file a $2 statement of claim for the value of your prescription over the improperly-delayed period and for the full term of your prescription.”
Turmel said there are many cases now where someone filed and then soon received their permit.
Harris’s claim has been proceeding in federal court since September last year, although it is still early days in the case.
His action, as Justice Brown describes it, asks for “Charter-damages for alleged unconscionable delays in the processing time taken between the filing of an application for, and obtaining a permit allowing an applicant to grow marijuana for medical purposes.”
The claim says that Health Canada can take as much as 30 weeks to process basic information about a medical marijuana patient from an application, while under an older medical marijuana policy regime it used to take as little as four weeks, and less time for a permit renewal.
The Crown had argued Harris’ claim lacked facts and failed to disclose a reasonable cause of action. But the judge ruled in a decision dated July 20 that it is “not plain and obvious that this action discloses no reasonable cause of action.”
A separate claim by Harris for interim relief was dismissed, which happened after he got his license. Harris says he plans to appeal.
As his case proceeds through the justice system, Canada is in the process of legalizing cannabis. On October 17, anyone will be allowed to grow up to four plants per household.
But the formula is different for medical patients, and Harris, who is self-represented, says patients will still face problems if the delays persist.
“If I have a 10g a day license, I need 50 plants,” Harris said. “So the four plants – that’s not going to cut it,” he said. “If you need more, there’s a problem because for recreational you’re only allowed to carry 30g, whereas with medical you’re allowed up to 150g.”
A large prescription means a patient “can’t go away for a long weekend” or ship their homegrown pot to themselves, he said.
The current medical marijuana regime was brought about under the Liberal government in response to the Allard decision which struck down a ban on home growing medical marijuana. It is called the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations. It will continue to exist alongside the regulations designed for recreational consumption.
Dealing with Health Canada bureaucracy to get a permit to grow medical cannabis at home is a “complete nightmare,” says a man taking the government to court alleging lengthy processing delays that he says violate his Charter rights.
Jeff Harris, 49, an accountant in Burnaby, B.C., has been using medical cannabis since 2010 and has a designated grower to cultivate his medical marijuana for him.
It’s a “nightmare” trying to navigate government bureaucracy and learn about how far along your own application is, Harris tells iPolitics. “All they’ll tell you is they got your paperwork and they’re working on processing it.”
His case became the lead claim out of what are now hundreds of similar actions filed against Health Canada citing administrative delays on getting their permits.
“Being the lead on almost 300, there’s a lot of pressure to get it right,” he said.
“A lot of these people who are using medical cannabis, a lot of them aren’t working because of their injuries. These delays cost money and that’s the problem.” None of the claims has been proven in court.
The judge dealing with Harris’s federal court case recently shot down a request by the Crown to strike his claim as frivolous and vexatious. Had the judge accepted the Crown’s argument on Harris’ claim, it may have also resulted in the court “striking some 200 similar case-managed actions,” the decision said.
Harris’s claim argues that not having enough staff to process a high volume of applications is a “lame excuse to delay the processing of medicinal permits” and that taking “over five months to key in the information to the computer is excessive.”
Health Canada told iPolitics earlier this year it had hired a dozens of new staff to deal with “the large volume of registration applications that Health Canada continues to receive.”
At the time, the department said processing times were “improving” after it added staff and made “internal process improvements.”
Similar claims have been made based off of a template from a website on the Internet set up by medical marijuana activist John Turmel – an engineer otherwise known in the political arena as Canada’s most defeated election candidate.
It’s not the first time Turmel has handed out court templates. He had distributed court claim kits related to medical marijuana permit applications, which led to hundreds of court claims being filed in 2014. Long before that, he said he also distributed templates for claims designed to fight home foreclosures.
This time, he said he distributed the templates after hearing stories of patients waiting “six months, eight months, 10 months, 11 months to get [their] permit authorized,” and pointed to a recent court claim citing a nine-month delay.
“We have these horror stories of delays and it’s pure bureaucracy,” Turmel said.
One of the forces behind the mass of claims is the belief that filing in court speeds up permit processing – something he advertises on his website: “If you applied and have waited over four weeks and want to bump your authorization or renewal to the top of their attention, you can file a $2 statement of claim for the value of your prescription over the improperly-delayed period and for the full term of your prescription.”
Turmel said there are many cases now where someone filed and then soon received their permit.
Harris’s claim has been proceeding in federal court since September last year, although it is still early days in the case.
His action, as Justice Brown describes it, asks for “Charter-damages for alleged unconscionable delays in the processing time taken between the filing of an application for, and obtaining a permit allowing an applicant to grow marijuana for medical purposes.”
The claim says that Health Canada can take as much as 30 weeks to process basic information about a medical marijuana patient from an application, while under an older medical marijuana policy regime it used to take as little as four weeks, and less time for a permit renewal.
The Crown had argued Harris’ claim lacked facts and failed to disclose a reasonable cause of action. But the judge ruled in a decision dated July 20 that it is “not plain and obvious that this action discloses no reasonable cause of action.”
A separate claim by Harris for interim relief was dismissed, which happened after he got his license. Harris says he plans to appeal.
As his case proceeds through the justice system, Canada is in the process of legalizing cannabis. On October 17, anyone will be allowed to grow up to four plants per household.
But the formula is different for medical patients, and Harris, who is self-represented, says patients will still face problems if the delays persist.
“If I have a 10g a day license, I need 50 plants,” Harris said. “So the four plants – that’s not going to cut it,” he said. “If you need more, there’s a problem because for recreational you’re only allowed to carry 30g, whereas with medical you’re allowed up to 150g.”
A large prescription means a patient “can’t go away for a long weekend” or ship their homegrown pot to themselves, he said.
The current medical marijuana regime was brought about under the Liberal government in response to the Allard decision which struck down a ban on home growing medical marijuana. It is called the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations. It will continue to exist alongside the regulations designed for recreational consumption.
