SMOKING POT...LEGALLY

Debate Over Medical Marijuana Use Hits Home For MS-Afflicted Man

When the pain comes it's like a knife driving into the muscles in Glenn
Thomson's legs, and then being viciously twisted.

Along with the pain usually comes the fatigue - when all he wants to do is
lie down and rest - while the agony pulses through his body.

Usually there is numbness too, creeping through a hand or leg, rendering it
dead to feeling.

The attacks are part and parcel of the Multiple Sclerosis the 31-year-old
Thomson was diagnosed with four years ago. And the only thing that staves
them off is a special prescription medicine he takes - marijuana.

Thomson is one of a select group of Canadians with medical conditions that
allow him to grow and use the normally illicit plant by prescription.

"The pot takes away the pain," he explains during an interview in the
kitchen of his Grande Prairie home.

The kitchen - like most of the house - is a work in progress. Thomson and
his wife, Mary, have launched an ambitious series of home self-renovations.
The work involved in doing the renos would be on the far side of impossible
without marijuana to dull the pain of his MS.

So would staying on his feet eight hours a day at his job in the parts
department at Grande Prairie Chrysler, or learning how to fly-fish, or
going camping with his family - any number of activities he loves that he
could otherwise never enjoy again.

"I can barely walk when the attacks come. Then, 15 minutes later, I can be
out playing a game of hockey with my son. It kills the pain, it gives me
quality of life."

For Mary, her husband's use of pot has been a godsend for their eight-year
marriage. When he was first diagnosed, the symptoms of the disease were
followed by bouts of depression for Thomson, and strain on the family.

"I was scared for both of us at first. What would this do to our young
marriage? (The marijuana) made a change in his life. He's funny and happy
again - the way he was when we first met," she says.

Health Canada approved Thomson in September to use marijuana. His doctor -
a neurologist at the University of Alberta - signed his approval. It wasn't
his first introduction to the drug. Thomson freely admits he used pot
recreationally as a teen as young as 15. But he had long since quit - "grew
up" as he puts it - and settled down to his life in Grande Prairie when his
vision suddenly went double one day while mowing his lawn, and an MRI scan
eventually discovered his MS.

Now he's legally entitled to grow as many as eight marijuana plants at any
time, and to use up to two grams of the weed each day.

"That's a lot of pot!," he acknowledges with a cheerful laugh. "But I
couldn't do that much, no way."

On an average day he consumes about half of his government-approved
allotment. He does it discreetly, but refuses to hide his use as though it
were something to be ashamed of. His employer knows about his condition,
and about his particular medication, and is supportive, he says.

For Thomson, smoking pot is just as crucial to his continued health as the
weekly steroid injections he gets to strengthen his muscles and slow the
damage caused by MS.

"I don't overindulge, I do it as I need it. Usually once during the day,
once after work, and once before bed.

"Sometimes people laugh if I walk by smoking a joint, but if someone asks
me I'll explain it to them."

In a small wooden box he keeps his modest collection of pot pipes - his
recent favourite was a gift from a co-worker - along with his other
marijuana paraphernalia. On the lid he's attached a photograph of himself
with his son and daughter during a family trip to the Calgary Zoo.

"It's to remind me why I do this - to keep going for them," he says.

Thomson's children, 10 and 11 years old, know that their father smokes
marijuana. He's explained to them how it's medicine for him, but admits it
can be a little confusing when a police presentation at school tells his
daughter that marijuana is bad.

"We try to be as open with our kids as possible. I think it would be
hypocritical of me to hide it from them."

His current medicinal supply comes from "a friend of a friend," he says
with a conspiratorial grin. Although approved to grow it, he hasn't found
the time or space to set up a hydroponic garden that would follow Health
Canada's strict rules for ensuring the security of your weed supply.

When first approved for use, he didn't know who to buy marijuana from
locally, so he asked a friend from out of town to ship him some pot by bus.
It arrived with an appropriately cheeky label, which read Thomson Greenhouses.

So far Thomson's use of pot hasn't run him afoul of the police.

But when filling out the request forms for Health Canada, he consciously
decided not to check off the boxes consenting to the local RCMP being
informed about his approval to use and grow cannabis.

"I want it to be a surprise," he says. "It's my get-out-of-jail-free card."