[420 Girl]

Anyone who steals a patient's prescription medicine should suffer the appropriate consequences.

And anyone ailing with chronic pain similarly deserves the added degree of protection by the system that afforded them the right to use drugs otherwise deemed illegal. Stealing something that is illegal - especially when the substance is legally exempt to someone because of their health - just seems doubly wrong. Repeat offences derive more serious punishments; so should crimes that infringe on the ailing and those who face a greater risk of having their remedies stolen.

Recently, when a Brighton man caught a trespasser, mid-stride and chatting on his cell phone, on footage from a newly-installed security camera, and the resident expected the young intruder would face adequate punishment. The homeowner said stealing prescribed medication - in this case marijuana - is a more serious crime than stealing some replaceable household good or a lesser break and enter charge, the only charge the trespasser faces. The crime is different, after all.

The problem is, it's hard to properly hide a plant that requires nuclear doses of sunlight and moisture in Canada during winter. And it's impossible for the rightful owner to stow the greenhouse plants when he or she leaves home.

Sure, local law enforcement say this is an uncommon problem - robbing medicinal pot from exempt growers - but the word on the street says otherwise. Perhaps it's because such a negative stigma shrouds marijuana and anyone who uses it, including medicinal users. But even if it is uncommon, the severity of such thefts cannot be underestimated.

Crime reports often reveal prescription medication thefts are among the leading causes of residential break and enters. Thieves target specific drug types - valium, prescription pain-killers, and now, medicinal pot. Some people are so desperate for a drug that is not legally available, they opt to steal the substance, assuming the theft is somehow justifiable because the owner presumptively shouldn't have it either. That puts certain patients at a higher risk and our laws should reflect their vulnerable situation.

Laws should better protect those people who are suffering unbearable pain.

Maybe it's nothing new after all, maybe it has just been overlooked for too long. A few cases of medicinal pot theft could seed a young drug trade in an otherwise crime-free community. As soon as a medical exemptee's pot is stolen, the thief is breaking many other laws. If the government has taken the trouble to confirm a substance is illegal in any form, it should extend legal protection to those people authorized to handle the illegal substance. If nothing is done, the authorities risk fertilizing the illegal drug presence on their own streets.

It's all about follow through, and exemptions should accompany a heightened legal responsibility.

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