MEDICAL MARIJUANA CAN BE DISTRIBUTED

The federal government will ask doctors to distribute medical marijuana
grown in a Manitoba lab, CTV News reported yesterday.

While officials had claimed the quality of the marijuana was too
inconsistent to use, they now say 370 kilograms has passed the test,
sources told CTV.

An Ontario court ordered Health Canada to broaden access to medical
marijuana six months ago.

While the government appeals that decision, the court imposed a deadline of
today to set rules for people who need pot but have trouble getting it legally.

In Ottawa yesterday, U.S. deputy drug czar Barry Crane met senior
government officials to discuss concerns that Canada's proposed marijuana
law will increase trafficking to the south, the Star's Mary Gordon reports.

Crane, deputy director for supply reduction at the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy, met officials from the foreign affairs
department, Health Canada, the justice department, the solicitor-general's
office, and the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.

Jennifer de Vallance, spokesperson for the ONDCP, said Crane was not here
to condemn the proposed bill, which would decriminalize possession of small
amounts of marijuana.

"We don't intend to meddle in Canada's internal affairs, but we are
particularly concerned with any implications that any legislation may have
on drug trafficking ..." she said.