PATIENTS GETTING GOVERNMENT-GROWN POT IN CANADA

TORONTO -- Jari Dvorak scored two ounces of pot Tuesday and lit up,
but -- unlike in the past -- the deal involved no back alley exchange
or hiding from police.

This time, the 62-year-old Dvorak went to a doctor to pick up his
supply, making him one of the first patients to receive
government-grown marijuana. He paid $245, tax included.

"I just smoked some and it's doing the trick," said the HIV-positive
Dvorak, one of several hundred Canadians authorized to use medical
marijuana for pain, nausea and other symptoms of catastrophic or
chronic illness.

The program announced last month by the federal health department
provides marijuana grown by the government in a former copper mine
turned underground greenhouse in northern Manitoba.

Dvorak described his new stash as light green and orange in color,
resembling ground tobacco sealed in vacuum-packed bags. If he saw some
lying around, he said, "I would say that's marijuana, especially if I
sniff it."

Getting it has been a three-year struggle for Dvorak and other
Canadian patients who have battled through the courts to make the
government respond to what they call their need for a compassionate
exemption from criminal law.

Marijuana possession remains a crime in Canada, though the government
has proposed making small amounts - less than half an ounce -
punishable by a citation and fine similar to a traffic ticket. U.S.
officials have warned of tighter border security if Ca nada takes that
step.

Last month, Health Minister Anne McLellan announced the program to
sell the government-grown weed, satisfying an Ontario court order for
the government to make a legal supply available to authorized patients.