MEDICINAL POT APPROVED IN CANADA - WITH RED TAPE

TORONTO - Regulations expanding the number of Canadians allowed to use
medical marijuana took effect Monday, but those eligible say the system
resembles a bureaucratic maze likely to delay hundreds from participating.

The rules are part of the first system in the world that includes a
government-approved and paid-for marijuana supply for people suffering from
terminal illnesses and chronic conditions.

Patients may grow their own pot, or designate someone to grow it for them.
In addition, the health department is paying a Saskatchewan company to grow
marijuana for eligible patients and research.

While U.S. medical marijuana advocates look at the Canadian system with
envy, some users north of the border complain hurdles remain.

"I still have to fend for myself," said Jim Bridges, 37, who has permission
to use marijuana for the pain and nausea of AIDS. He automatically comes
under the new regulations but is awaiting word on how to submit a photo for
the identification card smokers will have to carry.

Almost 300 Canadians previously were exempted from federal drug laws that
make it a criminal offense to grow and possess marijuana. Health department
officials say hundreds more have applied, and the figure could reach the
thousands.

Roslyn Tremblay, a Health Canada spokeswoman, said application forms under
the new regulations would be available "very soon."

Applicants must submit verifiable medical records and have a doctor's
endorsement. Cases except for critically terminal patients require further
supporting documents from another doctor.

The rules permit drug possession for the terminally ill with a prognosis of
death within one year, those with symptoms associated with specific serious
medical conditions and those with other medical conditions who have
statements from two doctors, saying conventional treatments have not
worked. Eligible patients include those with severe arthritis, cancer,
HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis.

The government regulations meet a court-ordered deadline to create a system
for terminally ill patients previously exempted from laws to have a legal
way to get the drug.

The Canadian Medical Association, which represents tens of thousands of
doctors, opposes the regulations because they make physicians responsible
for prescribing a substance that lacks significant clinical research.
Without the cooperation of doctors, patients cannot get exemptions.

Eight U.S. states have taken some kind of step toward permitting the
medicinal use of marijuana: California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii,
Maine, Nevada and Colorado. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, ruled this
year that there is no exception in federal law for people to use marijuana.