Mark Roberts, 35, has been using cannabis for medical reasons for about a decade after a serious car accident left him with a fractured vertebrae and chronic pain.
Roberts says he ingests about 90% of the marijuana with his food.
The man, who lives on Westbank First Nations land, received approval from his doctor and the provincial government in 2000 to use pot to treat his condition.
Despite it all, he’s had nothing but years of legal trouble.
Roberts says he has had his car pulled over and searched, has been arrested and thrown in handcuffs.
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He was charged with production and possession of marijuana earlier this year but those charges were later dropped in court.
However, using his medical marijuana is about to get even harder for Roberts because he lives on WFN land.
The WFN recently passed a new law that does not accept any medical marijuana licenses issued by Health Canada on native land.
The law means that effective immediately the possession or use of marijuana, medical exemption or not, is now illegal on all WFN land.
Chief Robert Louie says it’s all part of combating the community’s drug problems.
“Our community has been adamant, very clear that it is a no tolerance zone,” Louie said. “Drugs are not something that will be condoned.”
But Roberts calls the new law ridiculous and says while he understands WFN is a self-governing body, he sees this as discrimination not only against him but all medical marijuana users.
He’s so upset that he’s taking the matter all the way to the Human Rights Tribunal.
“It is a medical disability that people use it for. It is a medical need. If you say you can’t use it here, that is discrimination against a medical disability,” Louie said.
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