TOKING IS THE ONLY MEANS FOR MAN TO CONTROL SEIZURES, LAWYERS SAY

TORONTO (CP) - No legal drug helps an epileptic man control his
seizures better than a puff of marijuana, Ontario's highest court
heard Friday.

"There is no question that Terry Parker receives therapeutic benefit
from marijuana," defence lawyer Aaron Harnett argued.

But Crown lawyer Kevin Wilson told the Ontario Court of Appeal that
denying Parker marijuana doesn't violate his Charter rights because
there's no conclusive evidence he can't control his seizures through
legal means - a synthetic version of an active ingredient in pot.

Harnett and defence co-counsel Richard Macklin accused Wilson of being
pedantic.

"(Wilson) is speculating about a man's life in making an academic
argument for synthetic THC," Macklin told the three-judge panel
hearing the Crown's appeal of a watershed 1997 ruling.

In that ruling, Judge Patrick Sheppard stayed charges of marijuana
cultivation and possession against Parker, 44, after finding sections
of Canada's marijuana law violated his rights to liberty and security
and were therefore unconstitutional.

In his arguments, Harnett accused Wilson of seizing on a study of
synthetic THC Parker had participated in and drawing his own
conclusions from it.

Evidence at his trial showed Parker didn't achieve any benefit from
the legal, synthetic form of THC - the psychoactive component in
marijuana, the lawyer told the appellate court.

But Wilson had argued on Thursday that because Parker had suffered
only one seizure during the nine-week study, synthetic THC could
possibly prevent the attacks.

Harnett also noted that Parker's criminal trial was told he likely
needed CBD, a compound present only in smoked marijuana, to control
his terrible seizures.

One doctor told the trial that mounting scientific evidence suggested
CBD, which doesn't make pot smokers high, is a better anti-convulsant
than THC and is best obtained from smoking marijuana.

The defence says if Parker is deprived of his weed, he can have 15-80
serious seizures a week. He has had two frontal lobotomies and a
battery of experimental drug treatments with little success.

Smoking marijuana in conjunction with his regular epilepsy drugs is
the best way to control his seizures, his lawyers say.

Parker hasn't applied for the federal exemptions given to 16 medical
marijuana users this year, although his 1997 victory was considered a
crucial factor in persuading Parliament to take action on the issue.

Health Minister Allan Rock announced Wednesday that Health Canada will
fund trials and longer-term research on the therapeutic value of
smoking pot.

The judges reserved their decision.