ROCK TO ALLOW MARIJUANA FOR SEVERE ARTHRITIS

Ottawa - Sufferers of severe forms of arthritis will be given the right to
possess and smoke marijuana legally if they can prove they can't be treated
with other drugs to alleviate their relentless pain, according to a
statement released Friday by the federal Health Department.

Ottawa's long-awaited regulations on medicinal marijuana will also allow
terminal patients, people with AIDS, those with multiple sclerosis,
spinal-cord injuries, epilepsy and other serious conditions to ingest the
drug if it helps ease their symptoms.

"Canada is acting compassionately by allowing people who are suffering from
grave and debilitating illnesses to have access to marijuana for medical
purposes," Health Minister Allan Rock said in the release, obtained
Thursday by The Globe and Mail.

The measures will also allow the government to license third parties to
grow marijuana for individual sufferers who can't grow it for themselves,
says the release.

The new rules create three categories of people who can possess the drug:
those with terminal illnesses with a prognosis of death within one year,
those with symptoms associated with serious medical conditions, and those
suffering from symptoms with other medical conditions.

Severe arthritis is classed as a Category-2 condition, along with cancer,
AIDS, HIV infection, MS and several other ailments. The drug would be used
to alleviate persistent muscle spasms, seizures, severe pain, nausea,
weight loss and anorexia, among other symptoms.

The proposed regulations will be officially tabled Saturday, after which
Canadians will have 30 days to comment before they become law, became
necessary after an Ontario Court of Appeal decision last summer that found
the country's marijuana-possession laws unconstitutional. The decision
stems from the case of Terrance Parker, a 44-year-old with epilepsy, who
won a 23-year court battle for the right to smoke and grow marijuana to
control his seizures. Ottawa will put the new regulations into effect July 15.

In the case of a terminal patient, the drug will be supplied only if the
government can determine that all conventional treatments for the symptoms
have been tried or considered and that marijuana would mitigate symptoms.
Other approvals would be more difficult to obtain. For example, in cases of
less-serious conditions, sufferers will have to provide statements of need
signed by two medical professionals, one of which must be a specialist.

Sufferers in Category 2 can only get the drug if they can prove other
treatments were ineffective, if the patient experienced allergic reactions
to other treatments, or if the treatment prescribed causes undesirable
reactions when used with another medication.

Arthritis affects one in seven Canadians and is characterized by pain,
swelling and stiffness of the joints. Arthritis is not a single disorder,
but the name for joint disease from a number of causes.

In its most serious form, arthritis can be extremely painful, making any
movement excruciating and difficult.

The most common form is known as osteoarthritis. It results from wear and
tear on the joints, often developing in middle age and most commonly
affecting people who are 60 years or older.

The new rules being announced Friday also allow for an annual renewal of
the right to use the drug.

For those who will be allowed to produce the drug, the rules will set
maximums for the number of indoor and outdoor plants to be grown, authorize
a grower to receive and possess seeds and allow for site inspections and
criminal-record checks of designated growers.

There are about 210 individuals across the country who have received
special exemptions from prosecution to smoke marijuana to ease their pain.
Mr. Rock said he intends to seek their feedback on the regulations.

The government has already awarded a contract to Prairie Plant Systems Inc.
of Saskatoon to provide a reliable source of affordable marijuana for
medical and research purposes. The first supply is expected to be available
within a year, although health officials don't know yet whether it will be
available through pharmaceutical outlets or through other avenues.