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Medical marijuana plants are shown at a medical marijuana facility in Richmond, B.C., on Friday March 21, 2014. A lawyer representing four patients has told a Federal Court judge that Canada's new rules governing medical marijuana are forcing them to choose between their health and their liberty.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press

One of the four people asking the Federal Court to overturn Canada's new medical marijuana laws says he grows his own to help him cope cheaply with serious and chronic pain and that being deprived of it will unconstitutionally force him to choose between his medicine and jail.

But government lawyers contend allowing individuals to grow is a security, fire and health risk for patients, their neighbours and children who may be exposed to the drug. As well, the government contends, it is too difficult to ensure the marijuana being grown is medically effective.

Shawn Davey, a 38-year-old Mission, B.C., man on disability who smokes and eats up to 25 grams of cannabis products a day, explained to a government lawyer in Federal Court on Monday that since becoming licensed in September, 2013, he has been able to properly treat chronic pain from a serious motorcycle accident 15 years ago.

Mr. Davey is one of four plaintiffs alleging that their Section 7 Charter rights were violated when the federal government enacted its new Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) last year that made their personal grow operations illegal. Their lawyer, John Conroy, says they can't afford marijuana under the new system, which also doesn't give them control over the specific strains they use.

Mr. Conroy is asking the court to force the government to allow patients to grow their own marijuana and possess not only dried buds, but also tinctures, sprays and "edibles" such as baked goods and butters. Many Canadians licensed to produce their own medicinal marijuana under the old system kept growing after the Federal Court judge granted an injunction to the four plaintiffs in March of last year pending the outcome of this legal challenge.

"This is not about people producing to sell to the public; obviously that requires rules and regulations – especially if you hold it out to be medicine," Mr. Conroy told reporters during the trial's lunch break. "This is like, we say, growing your own food, growing your own health-care products."

Mr. Davey said he began using marijuana in 2002 to cope with his symptoms, which include memory loss, poor balance, a numb left side and severe pain.

Since then he has bought off the black market while failing to grow his own licensed crop once and being disappointed twice by the product he legally bought from two licensed producers. In September, 2013, he again secured a licence under the old system to grow 122 plants, most of which he says he harvests and renders into butter to bake into super-potent cookies that help him sleep each night.

The government lawyer cross-examined Mr. Davey on the $27,000 he and his friend – who was also licensed under the old production system – spent on renovating a barn on a rural property in Mission and planting marijuana once they obtained the licences in September, 2013. The pair spent about $3,000 on a security system that, if tripped, calls both Mr. Davey and his friend's cellphone, Mr. Davey said.

Mr. Davey told the lawyer the pair had no insurance, counted each crop by hand, encountered no problems with mould, did not weigh any of the harvests and kept no written records.

He estimates it costs about $330 a month to grow his marijuana, plus about $500 for electricity, which is still cheaper than buying marijuana from a licensed producer. While those prices range from less than $5 a gram to $15, Mr. Davey suggested he would probably end up paying about $8 to $10 a gram for about 750 grams each month.

"I can't do it, bro, there's no way," he said, referring to the cost. "And I trust what I grow. … This is my body and I don't want anyone else dealing with it."

Mr. Conroy says the federal government is confusing the risks of medical marijuana operations with the security problems faced by black-market grow-ops in the era before legalization hit western American states.

The trial resumes Tuesday morning, when plaintiff David Hebert is expected to testify and may do so in place of his wife and fellow plaintiff Tanya Beemish, who remains in the hospital. Mr. Hebert was growing marijuana illegally in the couple's garage to help treat his wife's stomach ailments, according to Mr. Conroy.

With a report from The Canadian Press

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