HIGH HOPES, LOW ODDS

Growing numbers of Canadians are finding that only marijuana can treat
their pain and suffering, but using it makes them criminals. Despite some
hopeful signs, the law is unlikely to change soon

FOR 13 months Andrew Harris lived ``a debilitating horror show.''

It started with blood in his stool and quickly progressed to chronic pain,
fatigue, diarrhea and excessive rectal bleeding.

He needed to relieve himself as often as 30 times a day, but he lost bowel
control, leaving him only about a 10-second warning to reach a washroom.

``It was a lot of pain and degradation,'' the Toronto white collar worker
says. ``I was still working and I was going to the washroom in my pants on
the job regularly.''

Harris was prescribed a myriad of drugs, including steroids, which, he
says, ``wrecked'' him.

After more than a year of fruitless medical attention, his doctor referred
him to Toronto's Rudd Clinic, which specializes in the colon and rectum.

A colonoscopy revealed that his entire colon was badly inflamed and he was
warned he may have to have it removed.

Reaching the point of despair, he began wondering if marijuana might help.
His doctor told him there was some evidence that it could be beneficial.

He tried it, and his fatigue, he says, disappeared the first day.

``Within three days,'' he adds, ``every single symptom was 100 per cent
gone - including the blood.''

Two weeks later he returned to the Rudd Clinic. The clinic's specialist,
impressed by the results, sent Harris' doctor a letter:

``Andrew proves a rather definite relationship between smoking pot and
relief of his ulcerative colitis. This is so much so that I would offer him
a contact person to obtain pot legally if that meets with your approval.''

It wasn't the first evidence to suggest smoking pot can be therapeutic. A
number of clinical studies suggest that marijuana alleviates nausea, pain,
muscle spasticity, epilepsy, glaucoma, anorexia, bronchial asthma,
insomnia, depression and some psychiatric disorders.

But despite his recommendation - and those of many other physicians across
the country - pot cannot be obtained legally in Canada, although doctors
are free to prescribe cocaine and heroin.

(Doctors can prescribe a drug called marinol, which is a synthetic form of
the THC content in marijuana, but many patients say it is ineffective.)

So patients like Harris who rely heavily on pot for relief from agonizing
conditions have to break the law to get their medicine.

They do have some reason to hope. In March, for example, federal health
minister Allan Rock called for clinical trials on marijuana. This Thursday,
his ministry will take part in a landmark civil case in which an AIDS
patient is suing the government not only for the right to smoke marijuana
without fear of prosecution but also to have the drug paid for by government.

Also in March, a U.S.-commissioned report strongly backed marijuana for
medicinal uses, saying it may be one of the most effective treatments
available for certain illnesses. The report, by the Institute of Medicine,
also said there was no evidence that marijuana use leads to harder drugs.

Last month, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police said simple
possession of small amounts of marijuana or hash should be treated as a
civil ticketing offence, not a crime.

But for now, having pot in your possession, even if it is the only medicine
that can treat your ailment, is illegal.

This doesn't stop people like Harris from getting and using it. But, like
many others, he believes it leaves a stigma.

Harris says he has tried to stop using pot several times since he got sick,
but each time his symptoms returned with the same severity, and only a
joint would relieve them. He smokes a joint each day after work and says it
doesn't impede his ability to function.

Andrew Harris is not his real name. Given his job, he feels he has to
protect his identity. Only his family and a few close friends know about
his smoking.

``I'm not proud of it, (but) I want it to be legalized for people like me
who need it.''

And though his work benefits covered the approximately $250 monthly
pharmaceutical drug expenses, he now spends about the same amount out of
his own pocket on marijuana.

But thanks to a Toronto buyers' club called the Medical Marijuana Resource
Centre, Harris is assured a constant supply of good quality cannabis at a
price below street value.

Warren Hitzig opened the centre in January, 1998, after researching the
herb's medicinal benefits. He got his first clients by passing around
fliers and contacting organizations like People With AIDS.

He occasionally delivers the medicine on his skateboard.

By April of last year, Hitzig had rented an office in a downtown building
and was catering to a growing clientele. Growers started to contact him.

Hitzig set strict policies for approval and sticks to them. Clients must
suffer from one of the conditions marijuana has been shown to alleviate and
provide a letter of diagnosis or endorsement from a doctor. Doctors must
also tell him directly that they approve of the use of marijuana.

``The last thing (sick) people should have to worry about,'' he says, ``is
whether or not they can get the marijuana.

``The most important thing for people who need it for medical reasons is to
make sure they know where it's coming from. (Here) it's pesticide-free,
mold-free, it's clean and hasn't been treated in any way which could cause
a reaction.''

(Any member caught reselling is immediately and permanently kicked out.)

Hitzig, 22, is charismatic, bursting with energy and ready to deal with
what comes his way - legally. (He has more pressing problems: Last week he
was evicted from his office on College St. and is currently looking for new
headquarters.)

Devoting himself ``eight days a week'' to this venture, Hitzig sells
several different strains of marijuana, as well as laced cookies and
cooking oil for people who can't smoke.

He also sells seeds and offers monthly sessions on how to grow the plant at
home.

It angers Hitzig that marijuana is illegal even to people with medical
conditions that can be alleviated by the drug.

``It's great that they're coming out with these medical trials, but what
about people who are dying now?''

Hitzig pays himself according to how many hours he works in a day, but says
he draws only enough of a salary to get by - usually between $30 and $100 a
day.

Any money made beyond that goes back into the club or to the legal defense
fund.

Hitzig has about 230 clients now, mostly people on disability pensions, but
also some lawyers, doctors and psychologists.

Lynn Duchesne is another of Hitzig's members.

Diagnosed with arthritis nearly 10 years ago, Duchesne says she suffers
from stiffness and inflammation without marijuana.

With allergies to other drugs, pot enables her to function, she says.

The most important aspect about the pot she gets from the marijuana
resource centre is that she is guaranteed a high-quality product that isn't
mixed with any bad chemicals - an impossible guarantee if buying from
street dealers.

Though both Harris and Duchesne were recreational smokers before getting
sick, first-time users have success with marijuana as well.

Anne Bulman was diagnosed with stomach cancer in December, 1997, and began
chemotherapy soon after.

``She lost weight, she got nauseous, the nausea was constant,'' says her
daughter, Debbie.

A friend suggested she try marijuana and gave her a joint.

``She tried it and it made a huge difference,'' Bulman says, adding that
her mother smoked pot until she died.

Hitzig's lawyer, Osgoode Hall Law School professor Alan Young, wrote to
health minister Allan Rock seeking authorization for the buyers' club
before it started up.

He wasn't expecting a positive reply, and he didn't get one.

``In the regulations to allow for distribution of unauthorized drugs or new
drug approval, everything was designed with synthetic products in mind,''
Young says. The government hasn't figured about how to use the regulations
to approve a plant product, he adds.

``It's an uncomfortable fit. They've never done it before, and inertia sets
in,'' Young says. ``It can be done, it's just that the political will is
not there.''

Rock disagrees. He told The Star on Friday that by the end of June his
ministry will be ready to begin the clinical trials.

``Maybe I'm not moving forward as many steps as some people would like, but
we're moving forward.''

Marijuana has remained an illegal substance for economic reasons, Young
believes. There has been no support from the pharmaceutical industry -
which actually could lose millions if marijuana was widely used.

``Pharmaceutical companies are wary to get involved in this exercise
because they haven't quite figured out how they patent a plant product,''
Young says.

How can they ensure exclusivity and, therefore, make the kind of profits
they make on their other products?

``That's what's really keeping things moving at a snail's pace, because
pharmaceutical companies are always the people who push for new drugs to be
approved,'' Young says.

``They don't seem to have any incentive to push for marijuana to be
approved because anyone can grow it in their backyard or basement.''

The flip side of the coin is the money officials and institutions make from
marijuana's prohibition, he says, particularly in the U.S., which spends
billions fighting the drug trade and exerts enormous influence on other
countries to follow its lead.

Six states recently decriminalized marijuana for medical use, but
Washington has threatened legal action against any that implements the
legislation.

``I do believe that the Americans are very steadfast in trying to influence
Canadian drug policy to ensure that we don't fall like the Europeans,''
Young says.

Therapeutic use of marijuana is already allowed in some European nations.

Meanwhile, people here continue to suffer and ``it's a national disgrace
that this government is not helping sick people,'' Young says.