PATIENT BATTLES MARIJUANA LAW

Paraplegic Says He Isn’t Afraid To Go Two Tokes Over The Line

With just two tokes from a single joint, Peter Shields is boldly
challenging the law that makes illegal his drug of choice for pain control.

The 51yearold Ottawa man briefly lit up a marijuana cigarette yesterday
in his bed at the Ottawa General Hospital, where he is to spend the next
three weeks recovering from surgery. And he warned hospital staff he will
do it again.

Mr. Shields, left paralysed from the chest down in a motorcycle accident in
1973, says marijuana helps him deal with a chronic burning pain in his
lower body.

"Despite the fact that I’m a paraplegic and paralysed, I have pain," Mr.
Sheilds said, grabbing an overhead ring and pulling himself up. He has
been in and out of hospitals for the better part of 20 years, "surgeries to
fix this and fix that and rearrange this and rearrange that."

"I’ve gone through the regular narcotics, such as Demerol, to no avail.
I’ve even gone to the (General Hospital’s) pain clinic. Marijuana seems to
do the job.

"It’s not a cure for the pain – no drug ever cures pain. But it’s a
diversion that certainly lasts longer than any other narcotic."

Mr. Shields said he deliberately planned his solitary protest for some
time. He believes marijuana should be legal, period, not only for
therapeutic purposes.

"I brought a joint in with me," he said. "I said, ‘I’ll wait until an
appropriate time to fire it up and take a few puffs and see what happens.’"

A few minutes later, a nurse was in his room, warning him, "You can’t do
that."

"I said I’m going to do it again, that I will have another one when I feel
it’s necessary to have one. I’m stuck in this bed for three weeks. I
can’t go outside and surreptitiously smoke a joint. I need this for pain
relief, and it should be available to me for this purpose."

Mr. Shields declined to give details of his surgery or medical treatment.

"I’m not the important thing here," he said. "This issue (the legalization
of marijuana) is the important thing. I just figured it’s time someone
stuck their neck out and sees what happens. It might as well be me."

Under current Canadian laws, the consumption and distribution of marijuana
– no matter what the purpose – are both illegal, with punishments ranging
as high as life imprisonment.

But there is growing support in Canada’s medical community for the
legalization of marijuana for therapeutic use.

A group of doctors is to meet this week in Ottawa to come up with a
strategy on how to provide marijuana to seriously ill patients in Canada.

Advocates say the drug stimulates appetite and suppresses nausea. And in
an Angus Reid poll conducted in October, 83 per cent of 1,515 Canadians
surveyed supported the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

A spokeswoman for the Ottawa General Hospital said the hospital is willing
to give Mr. Shields something to help control his pain.

But Kathryn Butler Malette said the issue is simple: "We’re a nonsmoking
hospital," she said.

"He can’t smoke anything in the hopsital."

Ms. Butler Malette said a patient complained about the smell of smoke from
Mr. Shields’s room. (Mr. Shields says he first checked to make sure his
smoking would not offend his roommate.)

The hospital is also concerned about the danger of a patient smoking in bed.

She said Mr. Sheild’s surgeon plans to speak with him today to try to solve
the problem. But she did not know what action the hospital is prepared to
take should Mr. Shields smoke marijuana again.

Sgt. Larry Colotelo of the OttawaCarleton Regional Drug Unit said police
would only investigate the incident "if we received a legitimate complaint
from the hospital."

But police do not generally investigate "simple possession for personal
use" and instead focus on those who are trafficking in the drug, he said.

Earlier this month, the Citizen reported on a group of doctors, marijuana
growers and AIDS and cancer patients who advocate the use of marijuana to
treat serious illnesses and who are working to make sure those who were ill
got the drug.

As a result of the article, the RCMP launched an investigation into an
Ottawa man who provides marijuana free or at discount prices to patients.

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