DOCTORS LOOK FOR WAYS TO GET MARIJUANA TO THE SUFFERING

Meeting To Assess What's Legal Now, Need For New Laws

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

``It'll be a preliminary discussion to see what we can do for patients
under the existing laws and what changes might be made to make sure people
who are sick get a medicine that helps them,'' says Dr. Don Kilby, one of
the doctors who is organizing the meeting.

So far, three doctors and Eugene Oscapella, an Ottawa lawyer, are committed
to attending the meeting, which will be held at an undisclosed location and
time next week.

Among the topics that will be discussed are how marijuana could be grown
under government supervision, and how it would be distributed to patients
who doctors feel need the drug. The group will also consider who would pay
for the testing that Health Canada requires before approving a drug's use.

``My idea is that if we can present a solution that makes everybody happy,
that's the goal,'' said Dr. Kilby, who works at the University of Ottawa
health clinic.

``I don't want to give out too much (about the meeting) right now.

``I want to be confident that when we present the proposal, nobody can
kibosh it.''

In the past, Dr. Kilby has recommended marijuana to some of his patients.

In the most recent case, he suggested that Jean Charles Pariseau, a
30yearold Hull man with AIDS, continue to smoke the drug because it
helped him gain weight and stopped him from vomiting up his medication.

According to Dr. Kilby, one of the keys to next week's meeting is that the
doctors have found a man willing to supervise the growing marijuana for
patients in need.

Aubert Martins, an Ottawa man who provides marijuana free or at discount
prices to area AIDS and cancer patients, has volunteered to grow marijuana
for any test plan the doctors come up with.

Mr. Martins is also expected to attend next week's meeting.

So far, the other two doctors who have agreed to attend the meeting are not
willing to be named.

Mr. Oscapella, who is a founding member of the Canadian Foundation for Drug
Policy, says his organization supports the legalization of marijuana for
medical purposes and hopes next week's meeting will be a step toward that
goal.

``We're going to discuss the issue, see what can be done within the
framework of existing laws, and if that doesn't work, we'll see what laws
have to be changed,'' says Mr. Oscapella.

Under current Canadian laws, the consumption and distribution of marijuana
no matter the reason are both illegal, with punishment ranging as high
as life imprisonment.

However, there is growing support in Canada's medical community for the
legalization of marijuana for therapeutic use.

Advocates of the medical use of marijuana contend that it promotes appetite
and suppresses nausea making it a potential lifesaver for patients
undergoing chemotherapy for cancer or battling the wasting syndrome caused
by AIDS.

In an Angus Reid poll of 1,515 Canadians conducted in October, 83 per cent
of those asked supported the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

As Canadian doctors are mobilizing to support the legalization of medical
marijuana, doctors in Britain are waging the same battle.

Yesterday, the British Medical Association made a public plea to the
country's police forces and courts to be lenient with people who take
marijuana for health reasons.

That plea came after a report by the association's board of science and
education that concluded:

``Many lawabiding citizens have resorted to the illegal use of cannabis to
alleviate distressing symptoms inadequately controlled by existing drugs.
Such therapeutic use should not be confused with recreational misuse.''

Dr. Vivienne Nathanson, the head of health policy for the BMA, called for
``compassion and understanding'' on the issue of the seriously ill using
marijuana because ``there is sufficient evidence that cannabis can help in
certain circumstances.''

Meanwhile, the RCMP is continuing its investigation into Ottawa's
underground marijuana network.

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

That article named both Dr. Kilby and Mr. Martins, along with two patients
who depend on marijuana Mr. Pariseau and Gerard Konning, who has Crohn's
disease.

As a result of that article, the RCMP launched an investigation in hopes of
laying drug charges against Mr. Martins. The police have already questioned
Mr. Pariseau and Mr. Martins.

``It's still under investigation,'' said RCMP Cpl. Marc Richer.

``We are here to enforce the laws of this country, and this is an alleged
breach of those laws.''