TOKERS WANT THEIR MONEY BACK

'Disgusting' Government-Approved Pot Reportedly Makes Some Users Nauseous

OTTAWA -- Some of the first patients to smoke Health Canada's
government-approved marijuana say it's "disgusting" and want their money back.

"It's totally unsuitable for human consumption," said Jim Wakeford, 58, an
AIDS patient in Gibsons, B.C.

"It gave me a slight buzziness for about three to five minutes, and that
was it. I got no other effect from it."

Barrie Dalley, a 52-year-old Toronto man who uses marijuana to combat the
nausea associated with AIDS, said the Health Canada dope actually made him
sick to his stomach.

"I threw up," Dalley said yesterday. "It made me nauseous because I had to
use so much of it. It was so weak in potency that I really threw up."

Both men are returning their 30-gram bags, and Dalley is demanding his
money back -- $150 plus taxes. Wakeford is returning his unpaid bill for
two of the bags with a letter of complaint. A third AIDS patient says he's
also unhappy with the product, which is supposed to contain 10.2 per cent
THC, the main active ingredient.

"I'm still smoking it -- I would prefer better, but it's all I've got,"
said Jari Dvorak, 62, in Toronto. "I think Health Canada certainly should
do better with the quality."

All three are among 10 patients who have registered with Health Canada to
buy dope directly from the government to alleviate their medical symptoms.
Another 39 applications are pending.

The department was compelled to begin direct distribution in July,
following an Ontario court order this year that said needy patients should
not be forced to get their cannabis on the streets or from authorized
growers, who themselves obtain seeds or cuttings illegally.

The marijuana is being grown for Health Canada deep underground in a vacant
mine section in Flin Flon, Man., by Prairie Plant Systems on a
$5.75-million contract.

The department originally intended that the product go first to accredited
researchers to demonstrate whether or not cannabis is medically effective.
Health Minister Anne McLellan has said she opposes the direct distribution
of government cannabis to patients and that the program will end if the
department wins its appeal of the Ontario court decision.

Laboratory tests indicate the Health Canada product has only about three
per cent THC -- not the 10.2 per cent advertised -- and contains
contaminants such as lead and arsenic, said spokesman Philippe Lucas of
Victoria.

"This particular product wouldn't hold a candle to street level cannabis,"
he said in an interview.