NEW MEDICAL POT RULE A BUMMER, ADVOCATES SAY

(CNS) - New federal regulations allowing designated medical marijuana
producers to grow cannabis for two approved users of marijuana - up
from one - are a "slap in the face," advocates said yesterday.

The changes, to be announced today, come nearly 16 months after a
Federal Court judge struck down the one-to-one ratio as
unconstitutional and unnecessarily restrictive.

Alison Myrden, who has been a vocal advocate for medical marijuana
users, said the changes are an "outrage" and run contrary to the
court's decision.

"None of us will settle for this," Myrden said. "This is so
disingenuous of our government, because we are sick and dying people.
We'll have to go back to court again."

The old regulations restricted designated producers to growing
cannabis for no more than a single approved user of marijuana.

Federal Court Justice Barry Strayer ruled in January 2008 that the
one-to-one restriction is "arbitrary," not "rationally related to
legitimate state interests" and violates the principles of fundamental justice.

Instead of amending its regulations to permit larger-scale medical
producers, Health Canada appealed the decision.

The Federal Court of Appeal ruled against the government last fall
without asking to hear from lawyers representing 18 medical users in
eastern Ontario. The government then asked the Supreme Court of
Canada to hear an appeal. The top court declined to do so, in a
decision released on April 23.

About 400,000 people in Canada use marijuana for medical reasons,
according to evidence presented in a case in British Columbia.