'LET ME HAVE MY WEED'; LEGAL POT PLAN FRUSTRATES GULF WAR VET SEEKING
PAIN RELIEF

TORONTO -- Canada's fledgling plan to let sick people get medical marijuana
is like an exasperating episode in Joseph Heller's anti-war novel Catch-22,
Gulf War veteran Tim Carriere says.

The Campbellcroft man says Canada's cannabis catch-22 goes like this: The
federal government may allow you to have it, but it's very difficult to
find any -- legally. And even if you can, you can hardly afford it.

Carriere, 38, is battling the Veterans Affairs department for reimbursement
for medical marijuana for his severely arthritic knees.

He wants "tens of thousands of dollars" for previous use of Marinol, a
prescribed marijuana derivative in pill form, and wants the VA to pay about
$45,000 for a home-growing operation.

After two years of red tape, he finally got a legal exemption from Health
Canada last month -- under its old medical pot rules -- to use and grow
marijuana as a pain reliever and anti-inflammatory for osteoarthritis in
his knees.

The 6-foot-5, 140-pound Carriere has other ailments -- arthritis in his
hips, ankles, elbows and hands; lupus; lung disease; bipolar affective
disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. But his federal pot permit is
based on his knee ailments.

As a war veteran, Carriere figures he's entitled to free federal pot -- not
yet available -- or a $45,000 hydroponic pot lab.

Carriere had a visit from OPP officers last week to review security for
storing and growing pot, and realized an eight-foot fence around his
acreage near Port Hope would cost $10,000.

Ottawa should pay, he says. After all, as a war vet he's entitled to free
medication, therapy, medical devices -- even home and automobile
renovations -- for illness or disability acquired in our armed forces.

Carriere says all his ailments are rooted in his exposure to uranium aboard
contaminated Canadian military aircraft during the Gulf War.

'DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS'

"I apologize to the whole country for getting hurt at work," Carriere says
bitterly. "I gave 11 years to the service of my country. I didn't ask for
this. I've been put through the wringer. I'm very proud that I made it
through the application process because they sort of made up the rules as
they went along.

"Veterans Affairs has totally destroyed my life over this. I'm a hermit. I
have no friends."

Unlike mind-numbing morphine, pot simply "takes the edge off" his pain but
leaves him alert. With three joints a day, he says he can function almost
normally. Carriere consumes most marijuana in muffins, cookies, cereal and
filtered coffee, since failing lungs make it inadvisable to smoke it -- the
best way to get the full effect.

However, like hundreds of Canadians already licensed under previous rules
or thousands more who will soon meet new federal rules for medical pot,
Carriere is caught in an irony: Now that he's cleared for use, there's
precious little available.

The only legally approved mass producer, Prairie Plant Systems of
Saskatoon, will not be shipping any retail pot from its underground site at
Flin Flon until at least December.

Meanwhile, Ottawa isn't providing marijuana seeds to those previously
approved to use it.

No VA spokesmen was available to comment at its Peterborough office, or at
Ottawa.