NORTHSIDE MAN WANTS MEDICAL-POT REGULATIONS RELAXED

Rocky Paul has been using medical marijuana to control pain and other
discomforts for the last seven years.

The St. Mary's First Nation resident would like to see the rules eased
up a bit so that those who need the drug can get it more easily.

Paul said as many as 30 pages of documents have to be filled out once
a year by patients and their doctors in order to continue to qualify
for the licence.

"What marijuana does is it helps me through the day," he said. "I
smoke maybe a couple of joints a day; I really need it."

Health Canada made the drug available since July 2001. That's when it
implemented the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations.

Under the stringent rules, people apply to Health Canada to possess
medical marijuana under one of the following three categories:
terminal illness, with a prognosis of fewer than 12 months to live;
specific symptoms, such as severe pain; and those with symptoms from
another serious medical condition not covered in the first two categories.

In December 2000, Health Canada contracted Prairie Plant Systems Inc.
to cultivate and produce a safe, standardized, homogenous supply of
marijuana. Applicants are also allowed to grow their own through a
personal-use production licence or apply to have someone grow for them
with a designated-person production licence.

Paul said he prefers to get his pot from a regular grower and
sidesteps the government.

"It's expensive to buy from the government and it is not that
great."

Paul said he needs the drug to help him get through the day and
compassion societies, which provide safe, accessible cannabis to
patients with otherwise debilitating conditions, are gaining in
popularity because they are easier to deal with.

Police prefer to tolerate the activities of such operations, as
opposed to charging those who run them.

There are no such operations in the Maritimes, but about 10
nationwide.

The Vancouver Island Compassion Society is one of the better-known
ones in Canada, supplying the drug to 710 patients.

Philippe Lucas, its founder and director, is also a medical user of
the drug.

While agreeing that government regulations are onerous, he said
organizations such as his are gaining in popularity because they offer
better service.

Lucas said a user can purchase from a dealer and not be charged
criminally, but the same doesn't apply for the dealer if caught.

"There's no legal protection for the work we do," he
said.

Although the figure couldn't be confirmed through Health Canada, Lucas
said almost 1,800 people are signed up for the government licence.

Officials at Health Canada were asked for comment on the medical
marijuana program but didn't reply.

As for the marijuana eradication program carried out by police forces
across the country during the fall, Lucas said all it does is make the
black market more profitable and justifies the purchase of helicopters
and equipment for the police and the army.

"Frankly, it is a waste of time and resources," Lucas said. "To me,
this is a very poor way to address the health concerns of Canadians
right now. All of our police budgets are limited and every police
minute that is spent chopping down a plant in the middle of the woods
is a minute that can't be spent attacking violent or predatory crime."

Lucas said cannabis should be controlled and regulated much in the
same way alcohol is regulated.

"I think the black market is a poor way to control access --
particularly for those vulnerable populations. What we're doing right
now in not taxing or regulating this product is surrendering all
control of it to the black market."

Police say the eradication program keeps unwanted drugs off the
streets.