RED TAPE CHOKING CANADA'S MEDICAL-MARIJUANA LAWS

TORONTO - New regulations took effect Monday expanding the number of
Canadians allowed to use medical marijuana, but those eligible say
the system resembles a bureaucratic maze likely to delay hundreds
more from participating.

The rules are part of the first system in the world that includes a
government-approved and paid-for supply of marijuana for people
suffering from terminal illnesses and chronic conditions such as
multiple sclerosis or severe arthritis.

Patients may grow their own pot, or designate someone to grow it for
them. In addition, the health department is paying a Saskatchewan
company to grow government marijuana for eligible patients and use in
research.

While medical marijuana advocates in the United States look at the
Canadian system with envy, some users north of the border complain
hurdles remain in place.

"I still have to fend for myself," said Jim Bridges, 37, who already
has government permission to use marijuana for the pain and nausea of
AIDS. He automatically comes under the new regulations, but is
awaiting word on how to submit a photo for the identification card
legal pot smokers will have to carry.

Almost 300 Canadians such as Bridges previously were exempted from
federal drug laws that make it a criminal offense to grow and possess
marijuana. Health department officials say hundreds more have
applied, and the figure could reach the thousands.

Roslyn Tremblay, a Health Canada spokeswoman, said Monday that
application forms under the new regulations would be available "very
soon," but she was unable to provide a specific date.

To join up, applicants must submit verifiable medical records and
have a doctor's endorsement. Cases except for critically terminal
patients require further supporting documents from another doctor.

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.

The government regulations meet a court-ordered deadline for Canada
to create a system for terminally ill patients previously exempted
from criminal marijuana laws to have a legal way to obtain the drug.

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.

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 employs the same
techniques that were used to grow berries and roses in the tapped-out
mine beneath Trout Lake.

South of the border, 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 those
with tolerant state laws could face arrest if they do.

"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.