AIDS PATIENT FIGHTS FOR LEGALIZED POT

Immunity from arrest, reliable supply sought

The Canadian government discriminates against AIDS patients by denying them
easy, legal access to marijuana, a court has been told.

James Wakeford, 53, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1989 and had full-blown
AIDS by 1993, is seeking an order exempting him from arrest on marijuana
charges.

He battled chronic fatigue, extreme diarrhea, weight loss, insomnia, night
sweats, loss of appetite, herpes and dehydration with massive amounts of
anti-viral medication.

But the medication left him with constant nausea and a loss of weight known
as wasting, so he turned to marijuana, an Ontario Court, general division,
judge was told yesterday. Wakeford found marijuana gave him an appetite and
eased the nausea.

Alan Young, a professor at Osgoode Hall who is representing Wakeford, urged
Mr. Justice Harry LaForme to grant an order exempting Wakeford and his
caregivers from arrest and prosecution on marijuana charges.

He also asked that the federal government be ordered to immediately
establish a program that would provide clean, inexpensive marijuana so
people such as Wakeford, who is dying, won't have to go to the black market
and possibly get contaminated pot.

He argued that his client, a co-founder of the Ontario Association of the
Children's Mental Health Centres, was having his Charter rights violated.

Marijuana, like many other drugs, is a controlled drug. People who are ill
can be prescribed controlled drugs, but marijuana is not one of them. This
is discrimination, Young argued.

Although there is a way to get an exemption, Young said ``the red tape is
so massive it mummifies. You can't breathe through it.''

Court was told it is theoretically possible to get access to medicinal
marijuana through a Health Canada program. But the applicant must specify a
legal, licensed manufacturer for the drug, and there isn't a manufacturer
in the world that would satisfy Health Canada's criteria, Young said.

Crown lawyer Chris Amerasinghe said Wakeford's facts do not fit the legal
test in order to get a constitutional exemption. The onus is on him to
prove his life, liberty and security are at risk.

``Without marijuana will his life be in danger?'' he asked.

Young said marijuana won't save, but ease, Wakeford's life. His liberty is
at risk because he is subject to arrest and prosecution if he uses it
illegally.

The case continues.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)