MEDICAL POT USERS WANT HEALTH CANADA TO BUTT OUT

Medicinal users of marijuana are angry with Health Canada for telling
doctors to keep dosages low.

Some users say that not only violates doctor-patient confidentiality,
it's also wrong for bureaucrats to make judgments about the medical
needs of people they've never seen.

Alison Myrden in Burlington, below, says her doctor was challenged by
bureaucrats about her 20- to 28-gram daily dose.

"They asked to lower it more than once, and my doctor and I both
refused," said Myrden, 43, who uses marijuana for multiple sclerosis
and another painful condition.

Her message to Health Canada: "Back off -- leave our doctors alone."

The department campaign to keep doses to five grams or less includes
postings on its website referring to studies indicating most medical
users need only one to three grams daily.

But a spokesman for the department said final decisions on dosage are
always left to doctors.

As of last month, 1,774 patients were licensed to use medical
marijuana, About 1,000 of them grow it themselves.