INMATE DENIED POT IN JAIL

An inmate at Regina's jail says the federal government has given him
permission to use medicinal marijuana to combat chronic pain, but the
provincial government won't allow him to smoke pot behind bars.

Dean Samborski, 52, said he has a licence from Health Canada to smoke
medicinal marijuana.

However, while serving time in the Regina Provincial Correctional
Centre for theft under $5,000, he has not been allowed to use marijuana.

"(They say) it is an illegal drug or substance. But I've been OK'ed
to smoke it, so why is it illegal?" questioned Samborski.

He said the marijuana is needed for pain management for injuries he
suffered in a motorcycle accident in 1976.

Instead of marijuana, he has been given Tylenol, Motrin and
anti-inflammatories, but those medications do not provide any relief
for the pain.

"On my left side, I'm hemiparaplegic and my left knee hyperextends,
so my left knee hurts from walking. On my back, I've got a bad lower
back because it twisted in the accident. I'm always in pain and they
won't give me nothing for it," he said.

Samborski was issued the licence to utilize medicinal marijuana in
August by Health Canada. He explained his doctor prescribed three
grams per day and he is allowed to carry up to 90 grams, which is a
month's supply.

"I have the licence, I can smoke it legally with the government. But
(Corrections officials) won't allow me to smoke it because I'm in
jail," he said.

The Ministry of Corrections, Public Safety and Policing has confirmed
Samborski has the licence in his possession and is the only inmate in
a provincial correctional facility with such a licence.

However, ministry spokeswoman Judy Orthner said she could not speak
specifically to his case.

Speaking generally, she said the ministry does not have a policy
against the use of medicinal marijuana in correctional facilities but
follows the guidelines set out by the Saskatchewan Medical
Association, which recommends physicians not participate in the
dispensing of marijuana.

The ministry has a contract with a physician who provides the
medication orders for inmates while they're in custody.

"The medication order may be quite different from the medication
order that the offender may have gotten from a different physician,
from a physician outside in the community," said Orthner.

Medications for inmates are paid for by the provincial government, if
the medications are on the provincial formulary. Orthner said the
physician is aware of this and tries to prescribe medications on the formulary.

Medicinal marijuana is not on the provincial formulary.

But if the contracted physician were to prescribe medicinal marijuana
for an inmate, Orthner said the ministry would follow that order.

"If the medical judgment of that physician is such that medical
marijuana -- that that's what the physician would be prescribing --
then we would need to comply with that medical professional's
decision," she said.

The department is currently in discussions with the provincial
Ministry of Health to develop a policy related to the possible usage
of medicinal marijuana in provincial correctional facilities, but
Orthner could not say when the policy would be completed.