CANCER PATIENT ALLOWED TO USE MARIJUANA

Martin Kaneva is finally allowed to use marijuana legally to ease his
stomach cancer.

Kaneva received his long-awaited medical marijuana authorization
Tuesday from Health Canada, five months after a doctor wrote him a
prescription for the weed.

"Finally having the licence is just great," said the 39-year-old
Wednesday. "But what I've found the most rewarding is all the support
I've had. It makes me feel so good to know that people do understand
and do accept what I'm doing."

Kaneva, who has a feeding tube and a 50-50 chance of surviving, was
diagnosed in December with metastatic gastric cancer and had been
waiting since June for a Health Canada licence to grow and use
marijuana. He had been using the weed illegally while caught in a
massive backlog of applications Health Canada says it is trying to
address.

Since his story appeared in The Spectator, Kaneva says, he's had phone
calls, e-mails and posts on his Facebook site from supporters - many
facing the same kind of wait.

"There are hundreds of people like me out there," said Kaneva, former
executive chef at Carmen's Banquet Centre. "I hope Health Canada tries
to do something to help them."