OTTAWA TO EXAMINE GAINS OF GETTING HIGH

Health Canada Commits $7.5 Million To Marijuana Trials

Canada will spend $7.5 million over the next five years to assess the
medicinal value of marijuana.

The Medical Marijuana Research Project has been set up through a
partnership between the Medical Research Council of Canada and the
therapeutic products program of Health Canada.

In clinical trials, the project will evaluate whether or not marijuana,
currently an illegal drug, is safe and effective for a wide range of
disabilities and illnesses.

Research will also compare smoked marijuana with the best standard therapy
for various health conditions.

If funds permit, the research will also look into new ways of administering
marijuana. There is the suggestion an inhaler, similar to those used by
asthmatics, is a more effective way of delivering the drug.

Health Canada spokesperson Reva Berman said one of the major hurdles to be
overcome in upcoming clinical trials is the fact there is no legal domestic
source of research-grade marijuana.

She said Health Canada is currently inviting tenders for a business plan
for a domestic marijuana growing program.

``In looking at the problem of where will the supply of research-grade
cannibas come from, we are asking what would be involved in establishing a
domestic program in Canada, which would be cannibas grown under controlled
conditions to satisfy specific requirements.''

At the moment, there are only two sources: A company in Great Britain and
the American government, which provides research-grade marijuana with
stringent requirements.

Anecdotal evidence from sick Canadians has suggested for some time that
marijuana has medicinal value.

Cancer and AIDS patients claim it relieves nausea and vomiting and helps in
gaining weight by stimulating the appetite. Multiple sclerosis patients say
it relieves muscle pain and spasms. There have also been claims that it
reduces the frequency of epileptic seizures and assists in the management
of glaucoma.

Berman said there has never been scientific evidence to confirm the
therapeutic value of marijuana.

Health Canada is providing $1.5 million a year for the research. MRC will
review research proposals for scientific merit. Oct. 1 is the deadline for
submissions with the first funding becoming available in February.

A growing number of Canadians with health problems have been asking for the
legal right to use marijuana ever since James Wakeford, a Toronto man with
AIDS, won an exemption from the current law two months ago to use and grow
marijuana.

Berman said by mid-July the government had received about 50 similar requests.

Deanna Groetzinger, vice-president of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of
Canada, said about 20 MS patients across the country indicated their
interest in marijuana after the society did a mailing on the topic last
spring.

The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada has had a couple of requests
from patients in the last year.