'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.