CANADA'S POT

OTTAWA -- Health Canada says it will provide medical marijuana to
authorized patients on a long-term basis, but patients aren't cheering.

Instead, they're upset that the government will continue to strictly
limit local growing operations, forcing many patients to obtain
government pot grown at a Flin Flon operation, which they consider
inferior and overpriced.

"This is not going to help the sick people across Canada -- it's only
going to hurt them even more, because it's only going to push us to
the black market," said Marco Renda, a medical pot user.The latest
version of the medical pot regulations appeared yesterday in response
to an Ontario ruling in the fall that said the existing marijuana
access rules were overly restrictive and unconstitutional.