PATIENT WANTS POT SUPPLIERS LEGALIZED

A Toronto man with full-blown AIDS wants the people who supply him with
marijuana for his illness exempted from drug trafficking and possession laws.

Jim Wakeford, the first Canadian granted the right to smoke pot for
medicinal purposes, asked an Ontario Superior Court judge to extend that
protection to his "caregivers."

Two of his suppliers have been charged with possessing marijuana plants,
said his lawyer, Alan Young.

Wakeford, 55, who uses pot to control nausea and appetite loss caused by
medication, also wants the government to get him a safe supply of the drug,
he said yesterday.

"Mr. Wakeford is not asking for a free ride," Young told Mr. Justice Blenus
Wright. "He needs the government to set up the infrastructure; then he
would be prepared to pay."

In May, 1999, a judge granted Wakeford a constitutional exemption to
cultivate and use marijuana to treat his AIDS-related illnesses.

Wakeford has the space to grow more plants than he has in the past, said
Crown Attorney Eric Noble.

But Young argued Wakeford should not have to worry about trying to grow his
own plants.

"Tomorrow, Mr. Wakeford may wake up and not be able to get out of bed,"
Young argued.

Although Wakeford can legally smoke marijuana, Nobel said he doesn't have
the right to choose where it comes from. "The evidence does not show that
he has had any difficulty getting marijuana," Nobel said.

Although the case only applies to Wakeford, a victory would likely affect
35 others granted exemptions in Canada, Young told reporters. Marijuana now
costs about $200 an ounce on the black market, but if produced legally
could cost half that, he said.

Wakeford told reporters that he had spent $11,000 on medical treatment last
year that was not covered by any health plan. Of that, $3,600 was for black
market marijuana.

Although Wright has reserved judgment, he said he recognizes the matter
should be dealt with quickly.

Ottawa says it is securing a safe supply, but little has been done,
Wakeford's lawyers argued.

Young called on the government to try to get the drug either here or from
two legal international sources in the United Kingdom and United States.

"You can't hold out an entitlement to someone and give them no way of
vindicating it," Young said.