HE'S NOT IN IT FOR THE HIGH

Meet David Shea and you might notice the skin on his face and hands is
taut and pale. It's not for lack of time spent outdoors, but because
of an uncommon condition known as scleroderma - a chronic systemic
autoimmune disease, mainly of the skin.

Up to 40,000 Canadians have the disease, which can make life very
uncomfortable.

That's why the Grand Falls-Windsor native, who now lives in Halifax,
promotes the use of medical marijuana to the public as well as to
health professionals - not as a way to get high, but as a safe drug
that can alleviate the symptoms of various diseases.

He is the head of patient advocacy with the organization Maritimers
Unite for Medical Marijuana (www.mumm.ca).

He was studying accounting, but had to go on a disability pension when
he developed the disease. He tried to work at first, but one of the
symptoms when the autoimmune system attacks the body is that scar
tissue develops.

In Shea's case, the symptoms made work too difficult and
painful.

"The doctors prescribed me medications, but I've always been wary of
drugs, so I would research what medication they would recommend to
me," he said.

"Often, with my condition, it was better to not take it at
all."

He discovered that medical marijuana was thought to help alleviate
several symptoms among people with serious medical conditions, like
cancer. Shea said he knew that it would help him improve his appetite,
and before he started taking cannabis as prescribed, he ate rarely,
and with chronic pain.

"I learned that it was safe to use, actually phenomenal," he said.
"That's when I went to my doctor and I asked about it. I've been to
two separate specialists, and both of them were in complete agreement
that it was the thing for me."

He doesn't "smoke up" like recreational marijuana users. He gets it in
raw, unprocessed form but usually ingests it in baked cookies or
something similar.

Medical marijuana is approved for use by Health Canada, and people who
want to grow the plant in order to supply the market for that purpose
have to obtain a government licence approving the cultivator as a
certified grower.

Shea wants to dispel the idea that people using cannabis for
legitimate medical purposes are always "under the influence."

"That kind of intoxication is something that happens the first week of
using it, but if you're using it on a continual basis, that doesn't
happen anymore," he said.

"And if I don't take it, the chronic pain comes back. Eating was a
very big issue for me, and if I don't take medical marijuana, I don't
want to even look at food."

As a patient advocate, he has worked with other patients who have seen
doctors who have told them the product is illegal, which isn't the
case.

"My hope is to educate patients and let doctors know there is a legal
program to allow them to recommend cannabis," he said.

Shea buys his supply from Health Canada.

"I've never met people who recommend opiates for pain, but I've met
loads of patients who recommend cannabis," he said.