JUMPING THROUGH THE HOOPS TO GET A PITTANCE OF LEGAL POT

OTTAWA - The federal government allows the medical use of marijuana on
compassionate grounds, but getting permission means jumping through
bureaucratic hoops. And trying to find a supply of pot could be a crime.

It's not as if a thick cloud of intoxicating smoke has billowed over the
country since the government took the small step of liberalizing
consumption of cannabis as a possible medicine.

Since 1999 when Health Canada's program began, over 800 of the seriously
ill have received a one-year exemption. On the other hand, a Senate
committee recently reported that between 300,000 and 600,000 Canadians have
been convicted of possession. It's a fact that might send a chill among the
gravely ill, such as cancer patients or the estimated 50,000 Canadians
suffering from multiple sclerosis who might be tempted to buy the drug
without federal immunity.

Ticked off by the government's restrictions, a Toronto group of sick people
who rely on the drug to relieve pain and nausea is taking the federal
government to court. They want Ottawa to ensure a legal supply instead of
having to count on street dealers and pushers.

Health Minister Anne McLellan's reply was to shift responsibility to the
Supreme Court to decide on marijuana's legal status. She also decreed that
a government-commissioned crop will only be used in clinical trials and not
sold to sick people, as originally believed.

The tests are usually conducted over several years before results are
published and a substance is approved or rejected for medical use. Ms.
McLellan is confusing matters more than they already are: Patients still
won't be able to legally buy good quality marijuana or even seeds if
they're granted permission to possess the weed, grow it or have it grown
for them.

Department spokesperson Andrew Swift said: "There is a number of people who
do not have a licence to produce marijuana or designate a person to do so
for them. Where they get it is their decision." In other words, they're on
their own.

Government compassion runs pretty thin when the various conditions for
possession and licensing are taken into account. What becomes obvious is
that politicians are acutely sensitive to pressure to continue to treat
marijuana as an illegal drug.

Opposed to a more liberal approach are police chiefs, the union
representing rank-and-file police officers, some medical practitioners and
the American government that spends billions of dollars on its war on drugs.

Getting permission could discourage the most stubborn or the most
pain-afflicted applicant. Health Canada provides applications and pages of
explanation both for patients and doctors.

The sheer detail of information required by the government underlines the
message that approval is not to be taken - or granted - lightly. For
starters, there's personal identification, a measure beloved by law
enforcement organizations, that includes not only a name and address but
two copies of a photograph, one for an ID card issued with approval and the
other presumably to keep on file.

But here's the tricky part. In theory, the ID card frees the holder from
being charged with possession of an illegal substance, if questioned by
police. It's hard to imagine a situation when the cops will be friendly
with a suspect holding a bag of dope in one hand while he or she waves an
ID in the other.

Thinking themselves streetwise, government lawyers have come up with what
must have seemed to them another clever stipulation: Applicants can consent
to have personal information, excepting medical records, released to police
so they can avoid legal entanglements.

Police must also be given "the maximum amount of dried marijuana" that the
ID holder is authorized to have at any time; the quantity is to be
prescribed by the patient's doctor.

This requirement seems straightforward at first glance, but isn't. How many
doctors are equipped to measure a legal amount? Besides, if they prescribe
more than five grams, they must declare that the health benefits of a high
dose outweigh the risks. The fact is they've become less willing to
prescribe cannabis, as one Toronto protester pointed out.

It's doubtful that police will bother weighing a prescription to determine
if it's within the legal limits. They'll either accept the amount as
declared or take a tougher stand and make life difficult for the possessor.

Provisions for securing storage, cultivation and renewing approval for
possession are also specified. Still, no matter what its benefits, this
political compromise is far short of humane.