VIEWS ON MARIJUANA CHANGING

With Licensing Of Growers Comes A Greater Tolerance By Society For The Drug

OTTAWA -- As the government puts the finishing touches on regulations that
will make Canada one of the first countries to license marijuana growers,
deepening public tolerance toward the drug is clearing the path to legal
reforms that could make Canada far more permissive of marijuana than the
United States.

Officials with the group Health Canada say that by the end of July,
marijuana growers will be able to apply for special licenses to produce
small amounts of marijuana legally for people with terminal illnesses or
chronic diseases to ease pain.

Over the past few years, more than 250 Canadians have received government
permission to smoke marijuana for medical purposes, and many more will
qualify for the exemptions when the new regulations take effect, but until
then, they must either grow the marijuana or buy it illegally.

Health officials say although there is no scientific proof that marijuana
has medicinal properties, testimony from people who have used it to
overcome the nausea associated with chemotherapy or to help with their
glaucoma and other diseases has been so convincing that the government has
decided to make it legal under certain circumstances.

What officials had not counted on, however, is that by debating and then
authorizing this specialized use of marijuana, they would be seen by many
Canadians as legitimizing the use of the drug. A recent survey showed that
47percent of Canadians agreed that marijuana should be legalized, a sharp
increase over the number five years ago.

"A new mood seems to be sweeping the country," said Reginald Bibby, a
professor at the University of Lethbridge who studies Canadian attitudes
toward marijuana. For 20 years, starting in 1975, the percentage of
Canadians who favored legalizing marijuana ranged from 24 to 31.

"Unquestionably, there is a link between government actions and the changes
in public attitudes," Bibby said.

An estimated 1.5million Canadians smoke marijuana recreationally, according
to the Canadian Medical Association.

Until recently, approaches toward the medical use of marijuana were similar
in the United States and Canada. But last month, the U.S. Supreme Court
upheld a federal law banning the distribution of marijuana for medical purposes.