POT LUCK

Dale Strohmaier takes a quick puff on his pipe. The short, sucking noise
sounds more like he's using an asthma inhaler than smoking pot.

"That's about all I need," he says as the tension eases from his face. Dale
passes the pipe to his wife, Alice, who does the same. The couple repeats
the ritual several times a day. Without marijuana, they'd be housebound =AD
weak, unable to hold down food and wracked with muscle spasms.

The Strohmaiers both have hepatitis C. Each contracted the virus in the
early 1980s through blood transfusions (neither qualifies for government
compensation because they contracted it too early) and they are now living
on disability pensions. They met through a support group, but they share
much more than a chronic medical condition. As far as they know, they're
the only married couple in Canada allowed to smoke marijuana legally. Last
December they were granted an exemption from prosecution by Health Canada
which, after decades of pressure from pot-legalization advocates, is
finally beginning research on the medical benefits of cannabis. In the past
year there has been a very public softening of attitudes toward pot.
Politicians from the most conservative elements in Canada have begun
suggesting that the government should allow its use for medicinal purposes.
Even stodgy Health Canada has acknowledged the need for empirical evidence
to back up claims that pot can help control symptoms of several conditions,
including glaucoma and epilepsy, and can mitigate the harsh side effects of
AIDS and Hep C treatments.

Last December it granted a five-year, $5.7-million contract to a
Saskatchewan company to grow marijuana for study.

Baby steps

This shift in philosophy is just what pot-legalization advocates have been
praying for. They hope that if society can come to accept that marijuana
has medical benefits, it will eventually accept the notion that it can be
used recreationally, just like alcohol.

That's one of the primary motivations for Munir Ahmad, an Edmonton pot
activist who plans to start a compassion club in the city. He's presently
working with Alice to lay the groundwork for a network in which people with
a medical need for marijuana can get a safe, reliable supply.

"Our basic argument for doing this is to prove that it will do less harm to
society than if people are forced to buy pot on the black market," he explains.

Compassion clubs are nothing new. One has been operating in Vancouver for
years. In that case, members can go to the club, buy pot and smoke it on
the premises. In keeping with Alberta's more conservative political
climate, Ahmad said, the Edmonton club will be much more conservative. It
will be discreetly located and no smoking will be allowed on the premises.
Members will go there only to buy pot, which will be kept under strict
security.

"It's not going to be a social thing at all," he explains. "That's not the
image we're trying to portray."

Membership requirements will be simple. Candidates' physicians must
acknowledge that they're using pot to treat a medical condition. Ahmad was
careful to point out that this doesn't mean the doctor must endorse
marijuana use; few doctors will go that far, but the physician must be
aware that the patient is using it.

"If we could find a doctor who will endorse pot use, that would be great,"
Ahmad says. "But generally doctors won't do that. They don't want to be the
vehicle for decriminalization."

The club is scheduled to open in October, but will begin accepting
applications on July 15. Ahmad will handle the business end of the club.
His job will be to procure the marijuana and ensure a steady supply of
quality weed. Strohmaier, a former social worker, will be in charge of
providing support and counselling for members.

Unlikely activist

Strohmaier readily admits she is the least likely of marijuana activists. A
middle-aged mother with adult children, she once marched her daughter down
to the police station after catching the teenager with half a joint.

"I've changed my point of view somewhat," she says with a laugh. She isn't
prepared to go as far as Ahmad and say it should be completely legalized,
but is now a passionate advocate for its medical benefits. In hers and
Dale's cases, it has controlled nausea and controlled muscle spasms related
to Hep C. Without pot, Dale is unable to eat at all.

Their medical exemption allows them to grow their own pot, but they're
limited to seven plants each at any given time. Of the seven, only three
can be mature at once. They can smoke pot anywhere that tobacco is allowed,
but they are only allowed to leave the house with a tiny amount and must
carry their five-page exemption permit wherever they go.

"Health Canada gives you all kinds of tips on how to be considerate,"
Strohmaier says. "They say don't smoke anywhere near children and when
you're in a restaurant, talk to the staff and let them know what you're doing."

In fact, she explains, one quick puff on a pipe is nothing like having a
cigarette smouldering at your table for five minutes. "It's over and done
so fast that people don't even know you're doing it."

While Strohmaier understands the restrictions =AD to ensure exemptees only
have enough pot to fill their basic medical needs =AD they can also be the
source of considerable hardship. There's no provision for when a crop
fails; if the plants suffer or produce a lower-than-expected yield,
exemptees are left without medication. If they were to buy pot on the black
market, it would cost about $250 per week.

The compassion club will challenge the status quo by supplying people who
claim a medical need (but don't necessarily have Health Canada's exemption)
with a cheap supply of medical marijuana. The club in Vancouver is largely
left alone by authorities because its benevolent purpose is quietly
acknowledged by government and the police. Ahmad and Strohmaier hope the
same will be the case here, but even if it's not, they plan to go ahead.

"I'm ready to go to jail if I have to," says Ahmad.

What marijuana is used to treat:

Nausea and vomiting associated with cancer and AIDS treatments

Wasting syndrome in AIDS and cancer patients

Multiple Sclerosis: for relief of muscle pain and spasms

Epilepsy: to reduce frequency of seizures

Glaucoma: to lower intra ocular pressure

Chronic pain

Spasticity: produced by spinal cord injury

Intractable hiccoughs (an uncommon side effect of AIDS)