LEGAL POT AVAILABLE ON JAN. 1

Health Canada announced yesterday the first batch of medicinal marijuana
will be available as of Jan. 1, and is of "good quality."

The government will be contacting the more than 680 Canadians authorized to
possess marijuana for medical purposes to determine whether they are
interested in purchasing the weed.

However, there are two questions that haven't been answered: the price, and
how it will be distributed.

"As far as any distribution plan is concerned, it will have to ensure three
things: privacy of the patients, security and reliability," said a Health
Canada source. "Price is something that is yet to be determined. The
marijuana will be affordable, but it will depend on demand and the
distribution mechanism."

The government signed a deal last year with Prairie Plant Systems of
Saskatoon to grow the marijuana in an underground mine in Flin Flon, Man.
The company has harvested 185 kilograms for Jan. 1.

During a visit to the mine last August, Health Minister Allan Rock said
medicinal marijuana is justified on "compassionate grounds" for patients
suffering from intolerable pain.

The Canadian Medical Association, however, has argued against the policy,
noting Health Canada has not yet approved marijuana as a drug.

In the last couple of years, at least 10 "compassion clubs" have set up
across the country, selling marijuana to patients. Pierre Hamel, a
volunteer of the Compassion Club on Rachel St. in Montreal, said yesterday
that he was pleased that there is now a legal supply.

"Basically, it's good news because some people will benefit from that,"
Hamel said. "It's a first step, but we have to go much further than that."

Hamel noted that the federal marijuana contains 5 to 6 per cent THC - the
active ingredient in cannabis - and that's too low for patients in great
pain. The Compassion Club, for example, sell marijuana with THC levels as
high as 17 per cent.

Hamel urged Ottawa to allow compassion clubs to sell pot, saying they are
the most willing and the most experienced.