HEP C PATIENT OUTRAGED DRUG CHARGES NOT DROPPED

A man who smokes 15 joints of marijuana a day to control his hepatitis C
symptoms will have drug charges against him stayed, yet is upset the
charges won't be dropped altogether.

Beachburg resident Rob Brown, 44 -- one of 20 people in Canada holding a
Health Canada exemption for the medical use of marijuana -- said he's angry
the Crown gave notice Thursday it will stay the charges of cannabis
cultivation and possession for the purposes of trafficking against him and
his wife.

"I think it is an obscenity that they are staying the charges," he said. "I
don't want the charges stayed -- I want them withdrawn. If the charges are
stayed ... nobody has to answer for the way we have been mistreated."

Mr. Brown said he and his wife, Linda, are innocent and staying the charges
only makes them dormant and will prevent him from travelling to the U.S.
for promising treatment for hepatitis C. He said he has been refused entry
to the U.S. twice.

Mr. Brown's hepatitis C virus infection appeared more than 10 years ago. He
suffers from muscle spasms, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Doctors say he
has cancer in his liver, prostate and bladder and have given him about five
years to live. The marijuana reduces the pain, cramping and nausea, and
improves his appetite for food.

Mr. Brown has conducted a public campaign for full exemption since his his
home was raided on Dec. 9, 1998 and his marijuana plants and growing
equipment were seized. The exemption allows Mr. Brown to keep seven plants
indoors, but he says he needs about 30 indoor plants -- or permission to
grow about six kilograms of cannabis outside -- to meet his needs.

"Staying the charges says all the mess we are in is my fault," he said. "I
got hepatitis C because of something they did. My wife and I are not guilty."