MARIJUANA REGULATION DRAWS FIRE

Doctors Unhappy Over The Lack Of Testing Under New Rules For Medicinal Use
Of Pot

Canada has become the first country in the world to allow people in medical
need to possess marijuana, but becoming a government-sanctioned pot-smoker
will not be easy.

First, you have to be very sick or close to dying. Second, you have to have
doctors vouch that all other remedies to fight the pain have failed while
only cannabis -- the herb Queen Victoria inhaled to relieve menstrual
cramps -- makes a difference. Third, you have to find a reliable source.
And until Health Canada's supply is harvested from a northern Manitoba mine
shaft, the options are tricky.

The new regulation, which took effect yesterday, is drawing international
attention as a daring move. Yet within the country, doctors complain that
they will bear the brunt of deciding who should be allowed to use the drug
while marijuana activists criticize a system that gives access only to
society's sickest.

"We're really unhappy. This is the first place in the world where this is
being allowed to happen and we're the ones that have to take the
responsibility for it," said Peter Barrett, president of the Canadian
Medical Association.

"We're being asked to be the gatekeepers for a product that hasn't gone
through any rigorous testing."

Health Canada officials, who were swamped with inquiries yesterday, said
they realize they are in a "unique situation." But court decisions giving
sick people the right to possess and use marijuana over the past four years
have forced the government to take action. As a result, Health Canada says
it is trying to make the drug available "on compassionate grounds."

Until yesterday, anyone hoping to use marijuana for medical purposes had to
apply for a special exemption from prosecution under the law. To date,
about 300 people have received exemptions. Now those applicants fall under
the new regulations.

But marijuana activist Steve Van de Kemp says the new rules are a small
step and that red tape will prevent too many sick people from legally using
the drug. "Truthfully, the solution to this whole mess is they have to
legalize marijuana," he said. Mr. Van de Kemp said that because of the new
rules, he will have to reapply within six months for his exemption status
that he first got last summer. Because he suffers from depression and
anxiety, he needs the signatures of two specialists to make his pot-smoking
legal.

People with a terminal disease (such as AIDS or cancer) need the signature
of only one doctor.

Mr. Van de Kemp suspects he'll have trouble landing his two signatures
since doctors worry about certifying marijuana use.

"You may as well get me a Super 7 ticket for Friday," he said.

Dr. Barrett said most physicians are reluctant to participate in the
government's medical-marijuana program.

They worry about recommending an untested drug without knowing the full
side effects, proper dosages or how it might interact with other drugs.

He also predicted the new regulation will strain doctor and patient
relationships: "Everyone who wants marijuana for recreational use will be
on the doorstep and then we'll be the ones who have to say no."

The Canadian Medical Association opposes issuing certificates for patients
to smoke marijuana before Health Canada receives results from clinical
trials in Toronto and Montreal that will evaluate marijuana's potential as
a pain reliever.

Patients are meanwhile left to navigate an underground system of
connections to procure marijuana. Yesterday on Toronto's Queen Street West,
for example, one pharmacist said he hadn't the faintest idea how to get
pot. A walk-in clinic receptionist said the doctor was far too busy to
entertain such questions.

Only the owner of a nearby marijuana-paraphernalia store had a suggestion:
Get in touch with your local "compassion club."

Compassion clubs are networks that have long supplied cannabis to people in
medical need at prices below street value. Mr. Van de Kemp, who heads the
50-member Ontario Compassion Club, said the organization also gets doctors'
recommendations before it dispenses.

But even the clubs must rely on illicit drug sources and until Health
Canada's supply is ready for harvest, product from the street makes doctors
nervous. As well, there is some concern that the photo identity cards
patients receive in order to possess, and in some cases, grow their own
marijuana, will become big hits with counterfeiters.

Under the new regulations, medical marijuana users can grow their own
supply, designate someone else to grow it for them, or wait until Health
Canada has its product available.

Applications for protection from prosecution under the new rules will be
available from Health Canada through the Internet.

In the meantime, patients will have to jump through the bureaucratic gaps
between supply and demand.