GOV'T WEED 'WEAK'

Patients Pan Pot As Not Fit to Use

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 with a letter
of complaint.

'It's All I Got'

A third AIDS patient says he's also unhappy with the product, which is
supposed to contain 10.2% 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 a handful of patients who have registered with Health
Canada to buy dope directly from the government to alleviate their medical
symptoms.

The department was compelled to begin direct distribution in July, following
an Ontario court order earlier 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 cannabis is medically effective.