STUDY TO PROBE SAFETY OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

MONTREAL -- Seeking seriously motivated pot users -- in a lot of pain.

Montreal's McGill University is heading a year-long, Canadawide study on
the safety of cannabis used for medical purposes.

Recreational potheads need not apply.

Seven pain clinics across the country are now enrolling patients for this
study, considered a first of its kind, lead investigator Mark Ware of the
McGill University Health Centre, said Wednesday.

"We obviously can't take in every cannabis user that's got a little bit of
back pain. It has to be people who are critically in a lot of pain and
whose other therapies are failing them," Ware said. "Physicians know who
these people are."

The typical recruit would have pain from spinal cord injuries, multiple
sclerosis, arthritis, nerve injury and other kinds of treatment-resistant
pain, but not cancer patients.

Ware is already involved in studies measuring marijuana's therapeutic value
in pain control.

But in the COMPASS study -- cannabis for the management of pain: assessment
of safety study -- he's seeking to document adverse side effects. How does
pot use affect the heart, kidney, liver and lungs as well as cognitive
functions including memory and concentration?

The study expects to answer these questions by following 1,400 patients
with chronic pain, including 350 who already use pot as part of their therapy.

Participants will have to submit to urine and blood tests as well as answer
questionnaires at regular intervals.

Thousands of Canadians use pot on a recreational basis.

Since Health Canada amended the cannabis law in 2001, at least 753 people
have obtained permits to possess marijuana for medical purposes.

"We need much more scientific information on the safety issues facing these
patients," Ware said. "COMPASS is the first ever attempt to collect this
information over an extended period, under a wide range of conditions and
in real-world settings."

Free weed will be supplied by Health Canada. The strain supplied is to
contain 12 per cent of the active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

For study participants, marijuana possession will be legal. They'll be able
get their doses at local pharmacies -- starting with once a week for the
first month, then once a month for the rest of the year.

"We want to make sure there's no short-term problem with use, and we're
clear about the dose and mode of administration," Ware said.

It's to be used at home as usual -- smoked, brewed as tea or cooked in
recipes. Study candidate Kevin Kingsland, 49, isn't worried about marijuana
safety. The former computer technician has been off work for nine years
since suffering a spinal injury -- and excruciating pain that medication
can reduce a little but not eliminate.