HEALTH CANADA TO SELL POT TO THE SICK

OTTAWA (CP) -- Health Canada is getting into the business of selling
marijuana to the sick, even while police continue to bust people for
growing or dealing the drug illegally.

Under an interim policy announced Wednesday, the government will sell bags
of marijuana seeds and dried marijuana to sick patients who qualify under
Ottawa's medical pot program.

The announcement came on the day an Ontario court judge set as the deadline
for the federal government to come up with regulations for distributing
medical marijuana. The judge ruled Ottawa couldn't logically give sick
people permission to use pot without also providing a legal source of supply.

Health Canada is appealing the ruling and Health Minister Anne McLellan
hinted the sales program could end quickly if her department wins the appeal.

"It was never the intention for us to provide product,'' she said in
Edmonton. "What we wanted to do was in fact determine whether there is
medicinal benefit in relation to the use of marijuana.''

She expressed strong skepticism about the premise of the medical marijuana
program instituted by her predecessor, Allan Rock. ``There have been no
studies anywhere in the world that have been able to confirm medicinal
benefit,'' she said.

The tone of her comments differed from that used by Rock who said the
medical marijuana program was based on compassion for people who are
seriously ill or in discomfort.

Canadian Alliance health critic Rob Merrifield said McLellan has been left
out on a limb by Rock's initiative. He said marijuana should have to go
through the same scientific testing as any other drug.

About 500 people now qualify to use marijuana under the program, but they
have been required to grow their own pot, designate someone to grow it for
them or get it on the black market.

That was the problem that led the Ontario Court of Justice to declare the
law unconstitutional and give the government six months to fix it.

Health Canada is charging $20 for 20 seeds or $150 for a 30-gram bag of
dried grass. The product is grown by Prairie Plant Systems at a mine in
Flin Flon, Man.

To qualify under the medical access program, people must meet detailed
medical requirements and get the endorsement of a doctor. Senator Pierre
Claude Nolin, chair of a Senate committee that called for pot to be
decriminalized, was highly critical of Wednesday's announcement.

"You can smell the bad faith of the government,'' said Nolin. "The
government doesn't do anything but react.''