MEDICAL POT SPARKS LEGAL, ETHICAL DEBATE

OTTAWA -- Doctors are being put in an ethical, medical, and legal quandary
by new regulations that ask physicians to approve marijuana use for certain
patients -- even though the popular herb's medicinal value remains unknown.

"We're very unhappy that physicians are going to be put in this position,"
said Dr. Hugh Scully, past president of the Canadian Medical Association
Wednesday. "We're telling them: Don't do it if you're not comfortable with
it. And by the way, I don't know how you're going to be comfortable with it."

In a letter sent to the CMA on Wednesday, Health Minister Allan Rock agreed
that there is little scientific evidence about the medical effects of
marijuana use.

"We agree that evidence of the therapeutic value of smoked marijuana is
highly anecdotal," Rock wrote.

But Rock promised that the coming weeks would bring new announcements of
research projects from a $7.5 million medical marijuana research fund. The
government has already announced a $5.75-million contract with Saskatoon's
Prairie Plant Systems to grow 2,000 kilograms of research-quality marijuana
for clinical trials.

"I'm pleased to see that Mr. Rock and Health Canada have made a commitment
to research," Scully said.

The new Health Canada regulations published Wednesday will allow certain
patients with chronic or terminal illnesses to apply to Health Canada for
permission to grow, possess and use marijuana to relieve their symptoms.

In every case, the application must be signed by a doctor, who must
indicate that "the benefits from the applicant's recommended use of
marijuana would outweigh any risks associated with that use."

But Scully said that's a requirement that doctors can't fulfill. Not only
are the risks of marijuana in general unknown, but under the regulations,
each patient would grow their own marijuana, making it impossible for
doctors to know exactly what their patients were smoking.

"We don't know what the dose should be," Scully said. "We don't know what
the quality of the product is. We don't know what the interaction with
other drugs is. We don't know about the interaction with other medical
conditions."

The regulations have also left marijuana advocates dissatisfied. Licences
will be issued for patients to grow their own marijuana or to have a friend
grow it for them on a non-commercial basis. But buying marijuana seeds to
set up such an operation remains an illegal act in Canada. Even the
government has had a difficult time finding legal marijuana seeds to grow
plants for research, and is relying on seeds confiscated in raids by law
enforcement officials.

"Right now, as far as we are aware, there is no legal source of seeds,"
said Jody Domber, director general of Health Canada's Drug Strategy and
Controlled Substances Program. She said patients who obtain permission to
use marijuana will not be prosecuted for buying seeds.

"It is really hypocrisy for this situation to continue to exist," said
Brian Taylor, owner of the Cannabis Research Institute, a B.C. company that
sells equipment for growing marijuana.

Taylor said the government should allow medium-sized commercial operations
to grow pot for approved clients, rather than forcing each patient to grow
their own supply. A hydroponic pot garden costs about $2,000 to set up,
Taylor said, and is an easy target for thieves.

"Recognizing the entrepreneurial nature of what's already out there would
be far better than what they're trying to do," he said.

But Domber said Health Canada is not trying to endorse marijuana use.

"We are not encouraging the use of marijuana," she said. "We're simply
protecting people from prosecution."

By the year 2002, the government expects to have a supply of marijuana to
give to patients who are participating in clinical research.

WHO QUALIFIES FOR MEDICAL POT?

New Health Canada regulations will allow patients with certain medical
conditions to apply for permission to grow, possess and use marijuana.

The rules will apply to:

- - Palliative patients who have less than a year to live.

- - Patients suffering from AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord
injuries, severe arthritis or epilepsy.

- - Patients suffering from other conditions, if marijuana use is recommended
by two specialists.