HIS PRESCRIPTION: MARIJUANA FOR MEDICINAL USE

The sweet aroma is unmistakable inside Julian Gushulak's apartment.

But it's not what you think. Gushulak, the B.C. Marijuana Party
candidate for Kamloops, is burning a tiny stick of incense atop his
entertainment unit. The smell is comforting, he says.

Gushulak has smoked marijuana, not to mention a variety of other illicit
substances, since his early teens. He grew up in Fort Frances, a
pocket-sized border town in northern Ontario where, he admits, there
wasn't a lot to do as a youngster.

He left small-town Ontario at age 16 and hitched rides across Canada,
working odd jobs and construction for money.

Gushulak, 47, concedes he's not always been a model citizen - "I've done
some bad things in life, I know that" - but he makes no apologies. His
objective these days is much different than in his adolescence.

Eight years ago, while working to rebuild a highway near Thunder Bay,
Gushulak fell off the top of his rig. He says his life hasn't been the
same since.

"I lost my footing and slipped into the pit. I was in agony, I couldn't
even move," he recalls.

Gushulak spent two weeks in hospital with a severe back injury and many
more weeks in rehabilitation and physiotherapy. He has been unable to
work since the accident and is paid through a claim with the Workers'
Compensation Board.

His devastating accident is perhaps the single reason Gushulak is
venturing into politics and, primarily, the B.C. Marijuana Party.

He believes marijuana should be legalized and available to the public
for medicinal purposes. While Ottawa already grants a few hundred
exemptions a year for medicinal marijuana, Gushulak says it's not
enough.

"They are all terminally ill patients. What about the rest of us that
need it for pain?" he said.

Gushulak opens a kitchen cupboard and showcases his own personal
pharmacy. He points to painkillers, sleeping pills, drugs for his
stomach - the majority of which he believes would be unnecessary if
medicinal marijuana was available.

Gushulak admits to smoking the weed on a regular basis but says he
doesn't grow any at home. He's working hard to lobby the government to
allow his own doctor to prescribe the drug.

He also hopes to set up a compassion club in Kamloops, where people with
terminal illness or chronic pain can get together and use marijuana - in
all its various forms - to combat pain.

"I know now that this is my destiny. This is what I need to do, both for
myself and people in Kamloops," he said.

"I'd like to dedicate my life now to helping other people. For all the
bad I've done, I want to do some good."

His personal breakthrough has also meant an improved relationship with
his father. After years of strained relations, Gushulak's father is
finally able to accept his son's lifestyle.

"My dad was always such a law-abiding citizen that there was a door
between us. He could never accept what I did (with my life)," he said.

Gushulak has always pledged to raise his own children differently. He
says he has never lied to his children - ranging in age from 17 to 27 -
and has allowed them the latitude to make their own decisions.

"Kids aren't stupid. You can't lie to them. They know what I do and they
always have. They grew up with (marijuana in the house) because I don't
believe in hiding it," he said.

His wife Diane doesn't smoke marijuana nor do his children, he added.