The Dutch Supreme Court has ruled that a man who suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS) may grow his own cannabis for medical purposes. He wants to grow his own because the type of medical cannabis sold in pharmacies does not help his symptoms.
Four years ago the police came to Wim Moorlag's home and seized 43 home-grown plants. His lawyer Wim Anker says "It is really a disgrace how the law has treated this man. It is beyond comprehension that he has spent four years in the legal pipeline."
Cannabis plants |
Necessity
The same as many other MS patients, Wim Moorlag uses cannabis to alleviate his pain. Although it is illegal to grow cannabis in the Netherlands, the authorities usually turn a blind eye when people cultivate five plants or less. However an exception has been made for medical cannabis, which must be sold under license - for the past five years medical cannabis has been available at pharmacies.
Two years ago a court in Leeuwarden dismissed all charges against Moorlag because it found he acted out of necessity in circumstances beyond his control. The Supreme Court used the same reasoning: MS patients are faced with a paradox. On the one hand the need to alleviate pain and on the other the ban on cultivating cannabis.
Pesticides
The Supreme Court argued that Moorlag's choice to cultivate cannabis was the right decision because of the benefits to his health. Moorlag cannot purchase cannabis at a coffeeshop because there is no guarantee of the quality of the cannabis and there is a risk that it has been treated with pesticides.
Lawyer Wim Anker says the Supreme Court ruling was "splendid" for Moorlag. However it is of no help to other MS patients. "The Supreme Court pronouncement was only relevant for the case of Wim Moorlag. If we want a lot of people to benefit, then we have to change the Opium Law."
Change the Opium Law
Democrat MP Boris van der Ham says he intends to propose an amendment to the Opium Law to allow patients to cultivate cannabis for their own use. Also, the five plants per individual that are quietly tolerated are not enough for medical use.
Moorlag can now get on with his life and hopes that other people will also be allowed to grow their own plants. However, he does not understand why the Public Prosecutor's Office appealed the dismissal of charges by the Leeuwarden court two years ago. He then would not have had to undergo another two years of legal proceedings.
Listen to an interview with Mr Moorlag in RNW's The State We're In
*RNW translation (fs)
Tags:
cannabis,
drugs,
opium law
Hiram,
20-09-2008
- USA
Marijuana is just one of the many hallucinogens. Smoking marijuana and driving a car, just like, alcohol is dangerous to the public and should be controlled. Smoking too much marijuana causes people to think it is okay. Just like alcoholics, they justify their addiction and try to tell themselves and others it is safe and okay. It impairs the "thinking process." I you are toking on a joint, leave it alone. Not good for you or the safety of the public.
alanposting,
20-09-2008
- USA
Oh Hiram.....your lack of drug POLITICS knowledge is quite embarrassing. Pressure has been so great on the Netherlands to forgo complete honest health policies because of the sick and misleading drug policy pressure of the US. There is no real independent marijuana study that substantiates any of your clams. Strange, you admit how bad alcohol is, but for some reason you don't want to outlaw that "dangerous" drug....and please don't give me the legal argument of alcohol...its dangerous, so surly you want to make it illegal. My favorite part of your comment is when you said governments make laws to protect the innocents......do you live on this planet?
Hiram,
20-09-2008
- USA
The insane, drug war is already in Europe and in the Netherlands. The teen drug problem was reported by RNW in the article "Paper reports on drugs in northern Dutch schools." If marijuana is not dangerous, why did the courts only allow this one person to exceed the maximum allowed marijuana plants? Why hasn't the Dutch gvernerment allowed all of it's citizens to grow marijuana without interference? Marijuana is dangerous. It has numerous adverse psychological and medical symptoms. Do some research and find out for yourself. You will find it if you are serious about the research. As to the Netherlands...been there, lived there, and have seen the serious problems. Marijuana hinders the thinking process and therefore hinders one's ability, just like alcohol, to operate a vehicle. Everytime someone gets into and drives a vehicle, he/she endangers the public. This is one reason why governments make laws and that is to protect the innocent. Your facts are wrong and you need to do some research and take a reality check of the drug problems and not try to support activities that have killed thousands of innocent people who listen to others say there is nothing wrong with smoking marijuana. Misguilded, I think not, just informed and aware of the dangers of marijuana usage.
James,
20-09-2008
- Canada
Doesn't surprise me that Hiram is from the USA, you have the prohibitionist unscientific drug tsar speak down pat. Since when is marijuana dangerous? Science please, not hysteria for an answer. Courts are often used to keep laws from over stepping their bounds, unlike the US where laws frequently over step your own constitution. Alcohol or heroin can never be compared to pot. The fact that you do, shows how misguided you are. Look at the deaths caused by violent acts committed while under it's influence of alcohol, the drinking-driving deaths. Heroine is highly adictive, can't say the same for pot. Driving tests done in the UK showed driving improved under the influence of pot, can't say the same for cell phones or alcohol. Plus, the big part you are missing Hiram, pot is easily available in the Netherlands, yet they aren't all going around stoned with there "innocent people" getting harmed. The Netherlands from my visits seems to be doing very well without your insane drug war coming across the Atlantic. If anything you should save you judgments about the Netherlands and go see for yourself. Maybe you could learn something and fix your own country in the process
JUTT,
18-09-2008
- UK
The man is ill and should be left alone by the law to enjoy his remaining time. Growing a few cannabis plants at home hurts no-one apart from the criminals involved in the drug trade.
Hiram,
17-09-2008
- USA
"he does not understand why the Public Prosecutor's Office appealed the dismissal of charges by the Leeuwarden court two years ago.".....1. Maybe, the prosecutor took his oath of obligation to enforce the drug laws as scared. 2. Maybe, the prosecutor felt it was not the duty of the courts to make laws but enforce the laws as enacted by the representatives of the Dutch people. 3. Maybe, the prosecutor sees the dangers of it's citizens using marijuana (Leeuwarden has a serious drug problem with it's younger citizens-previous article). 4. Maybe, the prosecutor felt.......! The article stated there was "no" help for the other MS patients. This statement was untrue. What the court did was open the door to all MS patients and anyone who can claim that marijuana eases their illness. If, Moorlag, a Dutch citizen, was justified by his illness, then it would not be very tolerant of the courts not to justify all patients who are in dire need of their marijuana fix. They, too, have the same justification. Maybe, the prosecutor was right and the court was wrong! I wonder how many judges on the court smoked a joint before they squashed the drug laws? Marijuana is dangerous and it needs to be controlled. People who use marijuana, just like people who use alcohol, affects the lives of innocent people every time they drive a car. You have a right to smoke marijuana, inject heroin, snort coke until your head turns blue; but, innocent people who get hurt by these had a right to be protected from these individuals who think their rights are supreme over others. Maybe, this why the prosecutor followed through with an appeal; whereas, the court stepped out of bounds and failed all people who will be harmed by users of marijuana by changing the law for "one" specific person.
