THE PLANT OF LIFE

Health Canada is cautiously creeping toward the decriminalization of
marijuana for medical use; it's a move that does little to help hepatitis C
sufferer Robert Brown

In a case that could be described as vigilante self-help, Robert Brown is
both a victim and -- in the warped view of the law -- a criminal.

While Health Canada cautiously and "compassionately" tip-toes toward
decriminalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes, this chronically tired,
sick man is being dragged through court.

Diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1990, Brown has tried every modern treatment,
pill and injection to ease the constant nausea, throat spasms and reduced
appetite.

But it's the ages-old cannabis drug that has helped keep him alive.

Last December, police raided Brown's farmhouse near Beachburg, seizing
plants, literature and the growing lamps he and wife Linda had saved for
months to buy. The couple was charged with possession, cultivation and
intent to traffic. They made a day-long appearance in Renfrew court last
week, and will return next week to set a date for trial.

Shamed in his own community and church, the bust and continuing legal
battle has justifiably made Brown a bitter man.

'MEDICAL NECESSITY'

Still, he won't give up what he calls a "medical necessity" -- the drug
that helps him swallow the daily assortment of pills and keep down enough
food to stay alive.

Why should he should have to?

Brown's day does not begin, like ours, with a tumbler of orange juice, a
bowl of cereal and a slice of toast.

Stumbling from bed sick to his stomach, he moves his thin, white frame down
a set of stairs -- sometimes pausing half-way to catch his breath. Then he
draws back the curtain to a private basement room and falls back into a
well-worn armchair.

Choosing a pipe to soften the assault on a throat raw from dry heaves,
Brown lights up a joint and inhales with staccato puffs.

He admits it's a disgusting morning ritual. And it continues regularly
through the afternoon, then the evening.

Brown's decision to use marijuana did not come easily, since he has a
propensity for addiction. Abused in his early childhood, he grew up to be a
drug-addicted youth and an alcoholic adult.

After a couple of brushes with the law, it took a suicidal crash to rock
bottom in 1987 to make Brown finally take control of his life. He struggled
to kick the drug habit, give up the booze and rebuild his family and his life.

Three years later, his proud success story was marred with a cruel twist:
He was diagnosed with the deadly hep C. Overwhelming testimony shows
marijuana has therapeutic value, yet Canada has been painfully slow to back
the anecdotal evidence with scientific proof.

This spring, Health Canada made a welcome breakthrough, promising to
commission clinical trials for marijuana.

To properly protect the safety of Canadians, the tests must be carried out
over a course of years to learn about the potential risks and benefits
associated with the drug.

In the meantime, Health Canada insists, patients who benefit from cannabis
can apply for exemptions from prosecution.

If only it were that simple.

When Brown was told about the positive effects by medical practitioners
three years ago, it was in a discreet, almost secretive, manner.

His experience highlights how this federal access policy, however
well-intended, is ineffective unless patients are properly informed about it.

With Health Canada's formal acknowledgement that marijuana may have some
medicinal properties must also come the obligation to inform people about
the proper channels for legal access.

So far the ministry has not given formal guidelines to doctors, nurses or
other medical professionals about how they should advise patients when no
legal alternatives are effective.

Even those patients who do manage to uncover information about the
"application" process eventually learn that obtaining an exemption is not
an easy feat.

Health Canada spokeswoman Reva Berman says between 80 and 90 applications
have been submitted to date. No one has yet been denied, but despite the
promised turnaround of 15 working days, only two have been approved so far.

Berman says there's been a low number of processed files because most
applications submitted have been incomplete.

But Brown's lawyer Richard Reimer disagrees. He insists it's because there
are inherent flaws in the application process -- such as a question that
asks which "licensed" distributor the drug will be obtained from.

He has looked, but as far as he can see, there aren't any. At least not in
Canada. Reimer, a partner in a prestigious Pembroke law firm, suffers from
multiple sclerosis and has also sought an exemption.

VICTIM OF RED TAPE

But it seems he's also a victim of the red tape. Since January, he has
exchanged correspondence with his MP and the health ministry.

His MP has also exchanged correspondence with the health ministry.

But he's still waiting.

When Robert Brown was 37, doctors told him there was a 90% chance he would
not see 40.

At 41, they warned he may not celebrate his next birthday. He has made it
to 43, but Brown has just received news his body isn't responding to the
latest treatment.

Most victims of AIDS, MS, cancer and hep C don't have time to waste. It
seems sadistic to make them spend their dying days in court.

It makes little practical sense to spend time and money prosecuting cases
of people using pot as medicine.

It makes even less sense to take away a sick man's ability to ease his own
suffering.

"I'm just trying to stay alive. How can they deny me the thing that helps
me do that?" Brown asks.

It's a good question -- one that all "compassionate" Canadians should be
asking.