HIGH NOTE FOR POT USE A DAY AWAY

OTTAWA -- Starting tomorrow, Canadians can legally get high on pot for
medicinal purposes, but first Health Canada wants to see a doctor's note.

Health Minister Allan Rock's move to make the use of marijuana OK for AIDS,
cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and severe arthritis suffers means pot
can be grown out in the open by licensed cultivators with clean records --
and set amounts can be possessed and inhaled by those who have their
doctor's permission.

That will add a yet undetermined number of pot smokers to the already
210-or-so Canadians who have Rock's special permission to use marijuana
without fear of arrest.

The Canadian Medical Association has raised strong objections to the new
regulations, which they say ignore normal protocols of rigorous pre-market
testing, putting patients and physicians in a precarious position.

The Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine, representing doctors
specializing in addiction treatment, argues "there is more risk than
benefit" and wants more research.

Canada is the first country to adopt a system using marijuana as medicine,
after an Ontario judge ordered the government to clarify its rules within
one year.

The regulations are a result of that order.