PATIENTS TURN UP THEIR NOSES AT CANADA'S MEDICAL MARIJUANA

When Canada agreed to provide legally grown marijuana for certain
patients, the US condemned it for going soft on drugs. Now the scheme
has come under fresh attack - from users themselves.

The first batch of the official, government grown weed, they say, is
"disgusting". So bad, in fact, they are sending back their supplies
and asking for refunds. "It's totally unsuitable for human
consumption," Jim Wakeford, 58, an Aids patient in Gibsons, British
Columbia, told Associated Press.

A court order this summer required Health Canada, the national health
service, to sell marijuana to patients suffering from Aids, cancer,
and other diseases, some of whose effects doctors believe can be
alleviated through the drug.

The aim was to allow patients to obtain the drug without having to
resort to illegal dealers. But the issue of poor quality marijuana had
not been foreseen by the courts.

The drug is being grown officially for Health Canada in a vacant mine
section in Manitoba by Prairie Plant Systems which has a contract
worth around C$5.75m (US$4.2m). Health Canada spokeswoman, Krista
Apse, said the department would not accept returns or provide refunds.

So far, 10 patients have registered with Health Canada to buy
marijuana for treatment of ailments and a further 39 applications are
pending.

Outrage was expressed by Bush administration officials in the US when
the Canadian courts initially insisted the government provide the drug.

In the US, the battle over medical marijuana continues, with voters in
a number of states choosing to allow its use under medical
supervision, a move strongly opposed by the federal government which
has brought criminal prosecutions against growers who had been
approved by local councils to grow the drug.