POT RULING INDICTMENT OF HEALTH CANADA

The terminally ill should not have to go to court to get relief from
their pain and suffering. But that's just what Jim Wakeford was forced
to do to get the marijuana he needs for medicinal purposes.

Mr. Wakeford, a 54-year-old Toronto resident, is dying of AIDS.
Smoking marijuana has helped to keep him alive by counteracting the
nausea and loss of appetite brought on by his medication.

Yet, after he applied for special exemption from criminal prosecution
under Canada's drug laws, Mr. Wakeford spent months in bureaucratic
limbo waiting for his application to be approved by Health Canada.

This week, an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that he has waited
long enough.

The judge granted him a constitutional exemption from prosecution
while Health Minister Allan Rock figures out what to do about Mr.
Wakeford's request. It is a significant victory for those who believe
in the medicinal value of marijuana, but it is a damning indictment of
Health Canada's approval process for the medical use of pot.

Mr. Wakeford's lawyer has estimated that at least 20 other Canadian
patients who medicate themselves with marijuana are in the same
position, waiting for a Health Canada exemption under the Controlled
Drugs and Substances Act. The court's ruling is likely to trigger many
more legal cases like this one.

Fortunately, Mr. Rock has said he will not appeal the court's
decision. That would only have condemned other suffering Canadians to
the same interminable delays.

The court has come down on the side of compassion and common
sense.

Evidence, still largely anecdotal, indicates that marijuana can be
effective in easing pain and nausea, relieving glaucoma and cutting
the incidence of epileptic seizures.

Not every doctor will agree that prescribing marijuana is the right
thing to do from either a health or ethical standpoint. (The tar in a
marijuana cigarette alone is enough to give the medical community
pause.) But doctors who prescribe it in good conscience should be able
to do so, free of the fear that they and their patients might be prosecuted.