NO MORE WACKY TOBACKY TESTS

An Alberta researcher says the federal Conservatives are putting
Canada back in the "dark ages" by eliminating the $4-million medical
marijuana research program.

"There are still many unknowns about the medical benefits of marijuana
use. Ending research grants will put us back in the dark ages," said
Dr. Helen Hays, with the University of Alberta's department of family
medicine.

She's worked with chronic pain sufferers since 1981.

"Right now most of what we go on is anecdotal evidence. What we need
is some elegant research to offer definitive answers to whether pot
reduces chronic pain."

The Conservatives put their mark on government spending yesterday with
the announcement of $1 billion in cuts to programs they did not
consider priorities, from cutting $4.6 million funding to Canadian
museums to research on the use of medical marijuana.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty also announced that the government
recorded a $13.2-billion surplus in the last fiscal year and that all
the cash will go toward paying down the national debt.

A spokesman for Prairie Plant Systems, the Saskatoon-based company
contracted by Health Canada to grow marijuana and other plants used
for medical research, says the funding cuts won't affect those
currently using pot legally.

"This marks an end to research funding grants. We just grow the
marijuana, so it won't affect us or the supply to authorized users."

The $1-billion figure, over two years, included savings accrued from
tighter spending, such as $47 million less for having a smaller
cabinet. And it covered areas where money was allocated but never
spent, such as a proposed new citizenship act that cost $20 million.

But Flaherty and Treasury Board President John Baird made it clear
that the Conservatives were largely making choices about what their
government felt were priorities, with many of those choices made in
areas that were nurtured by the Liberals.