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Canada’s messy, controversial world of medical marijuana is coming under more legal scrutiny, as two British Columbia men launch a novel constitutional challenge of the federal law that bans “compassion clubs.”

The legislation violates the right of patients to life, liberty and security of the person by depriving them of the well-tested, reliable pot sold by the clubs, they allege in a challenge to be filed in court Tuesday.

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Carl Anderson and Wesley Jenkins ran such a club in Kamloops, B.C., but in 2011 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police charged them with drug trafficking.

That’s a major problem

Trying to shut down non-profit retailers forces people authorized to use medical marijuana to seek out street dealers and consume cannabis that may lack the active ingredients they need, argues the application under the Charter of Rights & Freedoms. The result can be bad for the customers’ health.

“When the interests of the state are basically nothing more than to make life difficult for people who are ill and trying to improve their health … that’s a major problem,” Mr. Anderson said Monday.