CryoNet #22668 - #22669

CryoNet - Sun 12 Oct 2003

    #22668: CryoNet #22636 - #22643 [Thomas Donaldson]
    #22669: Status of cryonics legality in BC [Jeff Davis]

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Message #22668
Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 09:36:51 -0400
From: Thomas Donaldson <73647.1215@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: CryoNet #22636 - #22643

Hi everyone!

A few comments:

1. I too am not taken by all the concern with CO2. However if we go
   back far enough in the Earth's history the level of CO2 THEN 
   is likely to bear little relation to the climate NOW. The reason
   is simple: the Sun, just like all other main sequence stars,
   slowly increases in brightness with age. Higher levels of CO2
   may have helped the Earth maintain a similar temperature to its
   temperature now, and thus support life... as it does now. 

2. With regard to Bill Warner's proposal and the recent discovery of
   ways to prevent cell's from losing their ability to divide:
   before we consider such events as major steps in our deterioration
   into old age and death, we must first establish that they ARE
   such major steps. To speak simply, other hormonal changes may
   first occur and kill us, before any direct issues of cell division 
   play any role. If we don't deal with THOSE, then how well our
   cells divide becomes irrelevant. Not only that, but our aging 
   probably results from a complex interplay of different factors.
   Our hormonal breakdown may block cell division by preventing the
   renewal of telomeres (just as an instance of how things MIGHT
   be related).

   If we want to deal with our aging, the best strategy is to use
   those drugs and treatments which are already known to increase
   lifespans while simultaneously working to understand, first, how
   our body comes to age. Calorie restriction and the efforts to
   understand how it works and duplicate it without limiting what
   we eat gives an example ... and one which will increase our 
   lifespans, even if it does not completely eliminate aging. There
   are also a number of drugs which have been shown to increase
   lifespan, not in fruitflies or worms but in normal healthy mammals.
   These are generally rats and mice ... for no special reason other
   than that rats and mice live for a short enough time to make such
   experiments practical. And examination of these experiments 
   often does NOT suggest that the drugs only improve health without
   increasing maximum lifespan. (Yes, I am disagreeing with those
   who argue that this result comes out statistically --- in some
   experiments).

                Best wishes and long long life for all,

                      Thomas Donaldson

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Message #22669
Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 23:51:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jeff Davis <jrd1415@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Status of cryonics legality in BC

Friends,

I moved to the Sunshine Coast of BC in August of 2001,
and have been gradually getting used to my new
surroundings.  Nice place, good folks.

Yesterday, on seeing Christine Gaspar's post,

#22667: first tv interview [Christine Gaspar]

I took a moment to check out the Cryonics Society of
Canada website, and in the course of exploring, came
upon a page entitled: 

THE ILLEGALITY OF CRYONICS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

[at: http://198.173.255.200/cryocdn/law57.html]

(The first part of what follows appeared in the June
1991 issue of CRYONICS magazine.) 

The Cemetery and Funeral Services Act, Bill 42, ...
Under ... "Arrangements Forbidden" is

Part 5, Section 57: 

"No person shall offer for sale or sell any
arrangement for the preservation or storage of human
remains based on cryonics, irradiation or any other
means of preservation or storage, by whatever name
called, that is offered or sold on the expectation of
the resuscitation of human remains at a future time." 

Now, I've been aware of this situation for some time,
even read the above quoted part sometime back, perhaps
on another website. This time however, there was
something new.  At the bottom of the page I find: 

2002 UPDATE: A POSSIBLE "COMFORT LETTER"

What follows I forward in it's entirety:
 
In 2002, British Columbia something Olaf Henny wrote
to the Solicitor General of BC concerning how Section
57 is to be applied. Olaf believes that the response
he received can function as a "comfort letter" which
could be shown to funeral directors, medical personnel
and common carriers in BC who might be fearful of how
the law is applied. The letter may well assure these
service providers that they are not violating the law
by providing service to cryonicists who have
contracted with out-of-province cryonics
organizations. 

The letter is as follows: 

September 4, 2002 
Olaf Henny RR#2 
315 - 7801 Spartan Drive 
Osoyoos BC V0H 1V0 

Dear Mr. Henny: 


Your letter of July 13, 2002, to the Honourable Claude
Richmond, regarding Section 57 of the Cemetery and
Funeral Services Act and the sale of cryonics in
British Columbia, has been forwarded to me for
response. 

Section 57 of the Cemetery and Funerals Services Act
is designed to prohibit funeral providers from
offering for sale any cryonic arrangements on the
expectation of resuscitation of the human remains at a
future time. This section does not prohibit private
cryonic businesses from operating, nor does it prevent
consumers from accessing the services of these
businesses. 

Should a consumer wish, that their remains be
preserved using cryonics, a British Columbia funeral
provider would not be restricted from performing
related services such as preparation and transport,
but cannot be involved with the sale of the cryonic
arrangement. 

If you require further information, please do not
hesitate to contact the Registrar of Cemetery and
Funeral Services at: 
Registrar of Cemetery and funeral Services 
PO Box 9297 
Stn Prov Govt 
Victoria, BC V8W 9J8 

I appreciate you bringing your concerns to my
attention. 

Sincerely yours, 
R.T. (Rich) Coleman 
Solicitor General 

cc: The Honourable Claude Richmond 
Tayt Winnitoy, Registrar, Cemetery and Funeral
Services 

        ------------------------------------

Almost certainly, this is old news and has long since
been posted to the cryonet, yet, though I've been
continuously subscribed to the cryonet, scan the list
nearly daily, and have my "BC news" sensors on alert,
I hadn't seen it.  And in going back to the archives I
cannot find it, at least not posted by Olaf.  (No
doubt someone will set me straight.)

If you look at the earlier attempt (as described on
the same web page) at addressing the BC cryonics
illegality problem, and compare that result with what
I can only describe as Olaf's success, you see what
can be accomplished with skillful communications,
artful interpretation, and diplomacy.

***THIS IS MY GUESS***, because the letter Olaf sent
off is not included with the very favorable response
he received from the Solicitor General of BC.  But I
am willing to stick my neck out this harmless little
bit and makee this guess, because I have always found
Olaf's messages to suggest that he is a reasonable and
bright fellow, short on arrogance and 'long' on people
skills. 

Olaf, if you read this, could you post a copy of that
letter?  I'm very interested to see how you achieved
your result.

It seems that the Solicitor General has arrived at the
determination that the Cemetery and Funerals Services
Act applies ***narrowly*** to funeral providers, and
that consequently only "funeral providers" are
constrained by the law.  This implies a crucial and
completely apt distinction between cryonics service
providers and funeral service.  This distinction is
long in coming, and constitutes in my view the central
element in Olaf's accomplishment and a major
accomplishment in its own right.  Something to be
built upon.

Again, major kudos, Olaf.

Best, Jeff Davis

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at
you, then they fight you, then you win."

                           Mahatma Gandhi




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