OTTAWA OKS MEDICAL POT DISTRIBUTION PLAN

OTTAWA - Ottawa has approved an interim plan to provide dried marijuana or
seeds to Canadians authorized to take the drug for medical purposes.

Health Canada spokesperson Cindy Cripps-Prawak made the announcement
Wednesday in Ottawa. It's the federal government's response to an earlier
Ontario court ruling.

In January, Ontario's Superior Court ruled federal access regulations to
medical marijuana were unconstitutional because they didn't provide a
distribution method for the drug. It gave Ottawa a six-month deadline to
create a new policy.

The federal government is appealing the Ontario decision. The appeal will
be heard at the end of July 2003, said Cripps-Prawak.

Wednesday's announcement is an interim policy pending Ottawa's appeal.

The dried marijuana will cost $5 for a gram, about half as much as its
street value. It will be provided on a two-week or monthly basis to
authorized patients who are too ill to grow it themselves.

A bag of 30 marijuana seeds will cost $20 for people licensed to cultivate
the drug for medical purposes.

Government-grown pot will have a THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) concentration
of 10 per cent, said Cripps-Prawak. THC is the active ingredient in marijuana.

Health Canada also recommends users not smoke the marijuana, but instead
consume it in a tea or within food.