U.S., DOCTORS, USERS CRITICIZE CANADA MEDICAL-POT PROGRAM

OTTAWA -- Canada's moves to allow for medicinal use of marijuana have
caused unexpected headaches here and prompted health officials to
backpedal on some initiatives, angering marijuana users the government
had aimed to appease.

At the same time, Canadian justice officials are studying the
possibility of decriminalizing pot as early as next year -- a prospect
that alarms drug-enforcement authorities in Washington, who worry that
such a move would increase supplies and depress prices for the drug in
the U.S.

Canada already is the third-largest supplier of marijuana to the U.S.,
behind Mexico and Colombia, according to the Canadian government.

On the medical front, Canada's Liberal Party government in 1999
amended the country's drug laws to allow citizens with serious
illnesses, such as cancer, to cultivate and possess marijuana without
fear of criminal prosecution. Some believe the drug can help ease pain
and seizures, reduce nausea from chemotherapy and stimulate the
appetite. So far, 1,098 people have been given authorization to use
marijuana for medicinal purposes.

But the initiative has run into all manner of problems.

For starters, Ottawa awarded Saskatchewan biotechnology company
Prairie Plant Systems Inc. a five-year contract, valued at 5.8 million
Canadian dollars ($3.7 million) to grow 880 pounds of marijuana
annually in an abandoned Manitoba mine. The government said it planned
to use the pot to study the plant's medicinal benefits, and that it
might distribute some of the crop to people authorized to use the drug.

But the government, uncertain where to acquire the seeds needed for
Prairie Plant to grow marijuana, decided to use seeds confiscated by
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in drug raids. The seeds were of
varying strains and strengths. Some marijuana plants turned out to be
more potent than others. This made the pot useless for medical trials,
where a uniform supply is required. (Prairie Plant is trying to grow a
suitable marijuana supply from the first crop.) Most of the crop was
put in storage, and the government said it won't distribute the
marijuana to ill people.

So, for Canada's first medical marijuana study -- an examination of
pot's ability to stimulate appetite in AIDS patients, which began in
Toronto last month -- the Health Ministry turned to an unlikely
supplier: the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Opposition
political parties had a field day deriding the ruling Liberals for
shelling out taxpayers' money to import pot from the U.S.

"Like any new project, there are bumps along the way," says Farah
Mohamed, a spokeswoman for Health Minister Anne McLellan.

Meanwhile, the government authorizations allowing sick people to use
marijuana have angered both doctors and pot supporters. Authorization
requires a doctor's prescription. But the Canadian Medical
Association, which represents 54,000 physicians, says there isn't
enough scientific evidence supporting marijuana's medicinal benefits
to allow doctors to credibly prescribe the drug .

"If a doctor doesn't know a drug , know its effects, or know the
proper dosage to administer, then that doctor shouldn't prescribe the
drug ," says Dana Hanson, CMA president.

Many doctors are against prescribing marijuana because they feel
smoking the drug is unhealthy and constitutes a "dirty delivery
system." They want a different means of taking marijuana developed,
such as a pill or injection.

Marijuana advocates complain that the authorization process denies too
many people access to pot. And they are furious that the government
decided against distributing its marijuana crop to the sick. This
forces users to obtain the drug illegally, they say. They also say the
strain of drug imported from the U.S. is too weak for medical trials.

"It's like testing aspirin using baby aspirin," says Marc-Boris
St-Maurice, leader of the Marijuana Party of Canada, a fringe
political party trumpeting marijuana legalization.

Angry pot users have launched legal challenges to the government's
marijuana laws. One such case will be heard by Canada's Supreme Court
on Dec. 13. In the case, pot proponents argue that Canada's marijuana
laws should be struck down because pot is a relatively harmless
substance. "We're aiming for decriminalization because if that
happens, legalization will inevitably follow," says Alan Young, the
proponents' lawyer.

Canada's government may beat the courts to a decision on
decriminalizing pot, however. The government is studying the issue and
Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has said he would like to make a
decision by the spring. In September, a Senate committee recommended
outright legalization of marijuana, arguing the drug is less harmful
than alcohol and should be treated the same as beer and wine.

A spokesman for Mr. Cauchon says the government has no plans to
legalize pot, but is open to decriminalization. That would make
possession a civil offense, like a traffic violation, instead of
bringing jail time and fines of as much as C$2,000. A survey by
polling firm Compas Inc. found 65% of Canadians feel decriminalizing
marijuana is a good idea.

Yet some groups that previously supported pot decriminalization are
backing away. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, for example, had
openly supported decriminalization, saying it would free up resources
to tackle so-called hard drugs , such as heroin. Now, the Mounties say
they might support "alternative measures," which could include
decriminalization, provided certain provisions, such as
government-funded drug-treatment facilities, were implemented.

Marijuana advocates say the backpedaling reflects U.S. pressure. U.S.
drug czar John Walters warned recently that the U.S. might tighten
border checks if Canada decriminalizes marijuana, a move that could
slow crucial trade flows.

While eight U.S. states, including California and Maine, allow some
use of medical marijuana, the U.S. federal government retains a
zero-tolerance policy on pot, putting federal laws in conflict with
some state laws. Medical-marijuana distributors in states such as
California are frequently raided by police enforcing federal laws.

Dave Murray, an analyst at the Office of National Drug Control Policy
in Washington, says the Bush administration is concerned about events
in Canada, and has been making its worries known. "To hear that a near
and dear neighbor is slipping into greater drug use is not good news,"
he says.