HEALTH CANADA TO RULE ON MARIJUANA

Ottawa lawyers help doctors seek approval for drug to benefit AIDS patient

A group of doctors and lawyers has made a groundbreaking application to
Health Canada to allow an area AIDS patient to legally use marijuana as
medicine.

The application, if approved, will set a tremendous precedent in the battle
to have marijuana legalized for the treatment of seriously ill patients.

The group Drs. Don Kilby and Michele BrillEdwards, along with lawyers
Eugene Oscapella and Glenn Gilmour made the application to Health Canada
yesterday and will present their proposal at a news conference today on
Parliament Hill.

``This obviously has broader implications than this one case,'' Mr.
Oscapella said.

``We hope this will lead to legal and safe access to marijuana for
(critically ill patients). Every journey starts with a single step.''

The application was made under the Health Canada special access program.
This program allows doctors to request immediate approval of drugs not
authorized under the Food and Drug Act if the patient is in an emergency
situation.

Drs. Kilby and BrillEdwards say such applications are common and generally
approved as long as there is medical evidence proving the drug helps the
patient.

``We have proof that it works,'' Dr. Kilby said. ``I've made (applications
for other nonapproved drugs) before, and in typical cases, the medicines
can be approved within 24 hours in an emergency situation or two or three
days.''

In this case, the application was made on behalf of Jean Charles Pariseau,
a 30yearold Vanier man who has AIDS and is a patient of Dr. Kilby's.

When Dr. Kilby began treating Mr. Pariseau, the man weighed only 82 pounds
and had a prognosis of three months to live. Doctors had prescribed dozens
of different appetite stimulants and nauseafighters to try to help Mr.
Pariseau keep down the 30odd pills he takes each day to control his AIDS
and help him eat food.

None of the them worked.

On the advice of a friend, Mr. Pariseau tried marijuana. To the
astonishment of Dr. Kilby, Mr. Pariseau's weight shot up to 100 pounds and
he changed his prognosis from three months to live to three years to live.

With this evidence, Dr. Kilby is asking Health Canada to approve marijuana
as a medicine for Mr. Pariseau.

It was under the same Health Canada program that drugs such as cocaine,
heroin and morphine were first approved for medical use.

If the group's application on behalf of Mr. Pariseau is approved, a
precedent will be set for any chronically ill person who has the support of
a doctor and someone who will grow marijuana for them.

It can take as long as a decade to get a drug approved for use under usual
Health Canada procedures.

The group began working on a way to provide legal marijuana for patients
six weeks ago after an article outlining Mr. Pariseau's plight appeared in
the Citizen.

Mr. Pariseau had been arrested by the RCMP for possession of marijuana,
despite the evidence that the drug was helping him survive.

He and Dr. Kilby came forward and spoke t0 the Citizen about how important
the marijuana treatment was for Mr. Pariseau.

Afterwards, Dr. BrillEdwards, one of Canada's leading drugregulation
experts, contacted Dr. Kilby and told him there was a route by which Mr.
Pariseau could get legal marijuana. A former Health Canada doctor who
oversaw the Health Canada Special Access Program, Dr. BrillEdwards was
confident Mr. Pariseau's case would qualify.

Mr. Oscapella and Mr. Gilmour, both founding members of the Canadian
Foundation on Drug Policy, also contacted Dr. Kilby and offered their legal
expertise on the criminal aspects of marijuana. The group is assisted by
Jennifer Jermyn, a communications consultant.

But the key to the application was Aubert Martin, an Ottawa man with 20
years' experience growing marijuana.

Under the Health Canada program, each application for a new drug must
include a ``manufacturer'' someone who is willing to provide the drug to
the patient.

Mr. Martin has been involved in Ottawa's underground marijuana network and
has been distributing free or discount marijuana to cancer and AIDS
patients, including Mr. Pariseau, across the region.

When he agreed to become the ``manufacturer'' of Mr. Pariseau's marijuana,
it allowed the group to go forward with their application to Health Canada.

The group expects a decision from Health Canada by next week.

The group of lawyers and doctors made their application to Health Canada on
the same day the Crown Attorney's office announced it would be appealing a
lower court ruling that allowed a Toronto man to keep smoking marijuana to
control his epilepsy.

Terry Parker, 42, had been charged with possession of marijuana, but Judge
Patrick Sheppard stayed all charges against him and ordered police to
return 71 marijuana plants to Mr. Parker based on the his belief that
marijuana was a medical necessity for Mr. Parker.

That Crown's appeal of Judge Sheppard's decision will likely be heard in
the spring.