IT'S A GIRL - HAVE A JOINT

Having just given birth to my first child last week, I know about
pain.

That the process was drug-free was due in no small part to its speed:
careening through the pre-rush hour dawn of Toronto we arrived at the
hospital emergency entrance at 6:45 a.m. We welcomed our daughter into
the world at 6:51.

Most women are not so fortunate. And labour is only one kind of pain.
Thankfully, in this country we have a long tradition of chemical pain
relief - from the most common over-the-counter oral tablets - aspirin
and acetaminophen - to cocaine derivatives administered through a
spinal injection.

But we still get our knickers in a twist over some forms of pain
relief.

Consider the drug examined by researchers at the University of
California who published their findings in the Sept. 24 issue of the
weekly magazine Nature. In tests on lab rats, researchers found that
said drug acted on certain brain cell receptors to prevent pain
signals from travelling to the brain.

The drug in question has milder side effects than morphine and is less
addictive.

The name of this breakthrough drug? Cannabis, also known by its street
names: pot, grass, weed, Mary Jane, reefer, joint or doobie. But
cannabis is illegal in Canada. Simple possession is a criminal offence
and can result in jail time.

Clearly, not all pain relievers are created equal. One criticism of
cannabis is that, for the moment at least, it has to be inhaled, (I
guess that rules out President Bill Clinton from ever benefitting from
its medicinal powers.) It is within the realm of possibility, though,
that scientists will be able to create a synthetic form of cannabis
that could be ingested.

Other criticisms of cannabis could be levelled against many legal
substances: it is potentially addictive (so is caffeine); it may lead
to experimentation with stronger drugs (so can cigarettes); and in
sufficient doses may cause impairment (so can alcohol).

Alcohol and tobacco are, in fact, more dangerous than cannabis.
According to 1992 figures from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse,
tobacco was directly responsible for the deaths of 33,498 Canadians
that year and alcohol 6,701 deaths. By comparison, all illegal drugs
combined resulted in 732 deaths.

Other criticisms of cannabis are baseless. At the August, 1997 trial
of London, Ont. man Chris Clay, who had deliberately sold marijuana
plants with the intent of bringing a constitutional challenge to
Canada's pot laws, Clay's lawyers argued that cannabis does not cross
a "sufficient threshold of harm" to either the user or society.

Though the judge convicted Clay on three counts of possession and
trafficking, he agreed there is no hard evidence of irreversible
mental damage; that marijuana does not cause criminal behaviour or
violence; and that consumption does not increase where it is
decriminalized. The judge based his conviction on the belief that
Parliament should decide the legality of marijuana.

About the most offensive pot smokers become is sitting for hours with
loopy grins on their faces, forgetting to finish sentences and
indulging in munchy cravings with cheesies and pizza.

Still, mindful of stereotypes, a pro-pot group in Vancouver has
developed a sort of smoker's code of ethics. Members of the Harm
Reduction Club agree to four conditions: they pay a $10 membership
fee; they must be over 13; they don't drive heavy machinery while
impaired; and they don't disturb the neighbours. (I wish some of the
people on my street were so considerate.)

So why the continued double standard in banning this substance despite
its medicinal value while other more dangerous substances are legal,
if controlled?

It seems we can't get past the fact that pot is a hallucinogen, though
it rarely produces hallucinations. It does produce euphoria and
pleasure, though, alongside pain relief. Heaven forbid that we
actually enjoy ourselves while we're recuperating.

It's time to decriminalize doobies for medical use. Then maybe, with
Baby No. 2, I can enjoy a celebratory joint instead of the traditional
cigar.

Marianne Meed Ward is managing editor of Faith Today

Checked-by: Patrick Henry