VICTIM SCRAPS FOR 'POT' RELIEF

Marijuana Debate, Studies Announced

Mark Crossley was always a scrapper.

Older and wiser, he might have mellowed a bit over time, but the
fights never came any harder than they do these days.

At 37, the father of three is waging war against a deadly,
matchbook-sized tumour that has been growing, undetected until two
years ago inside his brain for most of the decade.

Just last month, he pleaded guilty to growing marijuana, the drug he
says helps ease the pain of living with an inoperable tumour that is
destroying him, one centimetre at a time.

He says smoking three to eight joints a day holds burning headaches at
bay, calms his nerves and allows him to eat and to sleep.

"It's not like I'm doing it to get stoned," he said. "I'm a normal
young man, no different than anybody else, and I'm trying to keep
myself alive."

Crossley is the latest in a growing number of Canadians suffering from
diseases like cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis who say
marijuana alleviates symptoms of their illnesses.

This week, just as the House of Commons was supposed to begin debating
a motion to legalize the medicinal use of the drug, the government
gave the go-ahead for scientific tests on any benefits.

Crossley and his wife, Lorraine, say studies will just prolong the
process, rather than help them.

He discovered his illness when he was working as a steel fabricator in
1994. He collapsed and was rushed to hospital, where he was found to
be suffering from seizures. But it took until 1997 before he got a
sophisticated brain scan and the bad news.

"I go from a guy with a seizure disorder, looking to get back to work,
to a guy who's going to die" in five to six years.

Bitter as he is about the diagnosis, Crossley is even angrier at the
justice system.

Judge John MacDougall handed him a four-month sentence to be served at
home for the drug conviction. It will be followed by 18 months
probation and 120 hours of community service.

Moments after leaving court, he told reporters he wouldn't give up the
one thing that makes him feel better. He has stayed in the public eye
across the country pleading for the right to smoke marijuana.

He says he has no intention of letting the tumour kill him and points
with delight to the latest test results, which show it hasn't grown
since he was first diagnosed.