RULES BROADEN USE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

TORONTO (AP) - Canadians suffering from terminal illnesses and chronic
conditions such as arthritis can legally grow and smoke marijuana, or
designate someone else to grow it for them, under regulations that take
effect Monday.

The new rules are part of the first system in the world that includes a
government-approved and paid-for supply of marijuana, now being grown in a
former mine in northern Manitoba.

The rules will expand the number of people beyond the 292 in the country
currently exempted from federal drug laws that make it a criminal offense
to grow and use marijuana.

While some in Canada complain the new regulations create bureaucratic
hurdles and put doctors in the unsettling role of prescribing something
they know little about, the Canadian system looks wonderful to U.S. medical
marijuana advocates battling a zero-tolerance attitude.

"We're kind of envious of Canadians having the luxury of complaining about
the minutiae of the program," said Chuck Thomas of the Washington-based
Marijuana Policy Project. "It seems like a reasonable system."

Eight U.S. states have taken some kind of step toward permitting the
medicinal use of marijuana: California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii,
Maine, Nevada and Colorado. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, ruled earlier
this year that there is no exception in federal law for people to use
marijuana, so even people with state medical-exemptions could face arrest
if they do.

North of the border in the country that is the biggest U.S. trade partner,
attitudes are different. Justice Minister Anne McLellan said the issue of
decriminalizing marijuana should be studied, and the Supreme Court of
Canada has agreed to consider a challenge against the constitutionality of
criminal marijuana laws.

The new health regulations were drawn up after a court ruling last year
that gave the government until July 31 to create a way for people requiring
marijuana for medicinal purposes to legally obtain it.

The new rules permit drug possession for the terminally ill with a
prognosis of death within one year; those with symptoms associated with
specific serious medical conditions; and those with other medical
conditions who have statements from two doctors saying conventional
treatments have not worked. Eligible patients include those with severe
arthritis, cancer, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis.

More than 500 new applications are pending, and more are expected,
according to the federal health ministry.

The Canadian Medical Association, which represents tens of thousands of
doctors, opposes the new regulations because they make physicians
responsible for prescribing a substance that lacks significant clinical
research on its effects. Without the cooperation of doctors, patients
cannot get medical marijuana exemptions.

Under the regulations, people can grow and possess marijuana for medical
needs, or name someone to grow it for them, including the government.

In Flin Flon, Manitoba, a mining town hundreds of miles north of the U.S.
border, Prairie Plant Systems is growing marijuana in a former copper mine
under a government contract worth more than $3.5 million.

It expects the first harvest this fall of marijuana that will be supplied
by the government to eligible patients and used for research on therapeutic
effects. Company head Brent Zettl uses the same techniques that were used
to grow berries and roses in the tapped-out mine beneath Trout Lake.

In town, a novelty store has sold 6,000 T-shirts bearing a new slogan for
Flin Flon - Marijuana Growing Capital of Canada.