Evicted woman's death senseless

[museummouse]

By Andy Ivens The Province

Diabetic double-leg amputee Marilyn Holsten may have lost her life while fighting eviction for smoking medical marijuana at home, but her struggle survives.

Supporters of medical-marijuana patients' rights reacted with sadness and anger at the news of her death Aug. 7.

They are organizing a rally next Wednesday, from noon to 6 p.m., in front of the Anavets Senior Citizens Housing Society building in the 900-block East 8th Avenue in Vancouver, where Holsten lived for eight years before being told she had to leave.

"We're counting on quite a crowd," pot activist Marc Emery said Thursday. "A lot of people who are similarly disabled will be there.

"It bodes poorly for many people if they can be evicted for such trivial reasons when their health is at stake — such that they might even die," said Emery, who for decades has campaigned for the legalization of marijuana.

"Our goal is to force the CEO of [Anavets] to resign. What [that person] did was cruel and unfair and inhumane."

Holsten was in frail health for the past five years, her sister Moira O'Neill told The Province this week. The 48-year-old had both legs amputated, was partially blind and needed dialysis five days a week. She died of a heart attack.

When Emery, who next month is expected to begin serving a five-year sentence in a U.S. jail for selling marijuana seeds, heard about Holsten's plight earlier this year, he gave her a vaporizer, allowing her to inhale vaporized marijuana without creating smoke.

He also paid for a lawyer to fight Holsten's eviction at a B.C. Residential Tenancy Branch arbitration hearing in June, which she lost.

"She had a legal right to have [medical pot]. She obviously had a tremendous need," said Emery.

"It would be a bad neighbour, a bad landlord and certainly a poor human being to expel someone for such a trivial reason.

"Her expulsion created such stress for her that it possibly led to her death."

Emery's outrage was echoed Thursday by Jacob Hunter of the B.C. Compassion Society.

"Her imminent eviction ... was a cruel situation that highlights the need for serious reform of tenancy laws," Hunter said in a statement.

"These laws must protect the constitutional rights of those who are living with serious illnesses and conditions to be able to use the medicine of their choice without facing sanctions that would further threaten their health and wellbeing."

 

Note* Jacob Hunter works for the Why Prohibition Foundation, whyprohibition.ca, not the BC Compassion Club as stated.

Edited August 30, 2009 by museummouse

[Geekiator]

I wrote a blog about this outrageous violation of Marilyn's rights. Pardon me for not taking the time to convert the HTML formatting to BBcode. http://whyprohibition.ca/blogs/ellis-worth...bis-get-evicted

 

 

Smoke medical cannabis, get evicted

 

By Ellis Worthington

 

How would you like to be evicted for doing something completely legal, just because someone else thought it was unsavoury? The federal government of Canada gave an elderly, disabled, sick woman permission to use an illegal flower. That means Marilyn Holsten could legally use cannabis in the privacy of her own home. She even used an odourless vapourizer to inhale cannabis, which does not produce smoke because the plant material is heated, not burned.

 

Marilyn Holsten has been written about extensively in the Vancouver Province newspaper. Read the news articles <a href="http://www.theprovince.com/news/topic.html?t=Person&q=Marilyn%20Holsten">here</a>.

 

Long story short: Marilyn was a diabetic half blind double amputee in a wheelchair who went to the hospital almost every day, several hours a day for dialysis. She lived in supportive seniors housing for eight years. Marilyn died of a heart attack shortly after the Anavets Senior Citizens Housing evicted her because she was smoking cannabis to feel better.

 

If your health is failing, the worst thing the landlord could do is evict you for something as trivial as using cannabis to feel better. The stress and expense of eviction, finding housing, packing, moving, etc. is unbearably cruel when you have precious little time left to live. Anavets stole her last few days because they have a problem with a disabled woman using a flower.

 

The same thing happened in 2004 to Eric and Marlene Young on Vancouver Island, a couple with government permission to use and grow a flower. Eric has Multiple Sclerosis and his wife, Marlene grew his medicine. They fought the eviction in court all the way to the BC Court of Appeal and lost. Read about it at <a href="http://medpot.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=4756&st=0&p=5825entry5825">medpot.net</a>

 

Medical Cannabis users in Colorado are being evicted from federally subsidized housing. In America, The conflict between federal and state laws is creating a lot of hardship and suffering for sick, disabled people. Read about it in the <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_13219609">Denver Post</a>.

 

A friend of mine got evicted from his New Westminister apartment for smoking cannabis. He was a good tenant. He was quiet, always paid his rent on time, but he likes to smoke cannabis to relax after a hard day of working to take care of the disabled. He also uses cannabis as medicine for various aches and pains. His doctor won't sign the medical cannabis forms because she cares more about her insurance, liability, and practice than her patient's health. He doesn't have government permission to use a flower, nor should he need permission.

 

In 1967, Pierre Trudeau said "There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation." Everyone who values their personal freedom must stand up and tell our politicians that there's no place for the state in the gardens and greenhouses of the nation. If we don't need government permission to grow and eat our own vegetables, why must we get permission from the government to grow and use cannabis? Why would you bother asking the government for permission to use a flower when you can be evicted at the whim of your landlord, just because you are using an illegal flower with the explicit permission of the Canadian government?

 

There will be a memorial protest for Marilyn on September 2, from noon to 6 PM, at 951 East 8th Ave, Vancouver. Please remember Marilyn by doing whatever you can to prevent disabled people from being evicted for using cannabis as medicine.