PAIN SUFFERERS SEEK REFUGEE STATUS, MEDICINAL MARIJUANA IN B.C.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Four decades ago, a wave of American draft
dodgers fled to Canada rather than fight in Vietnam. Some turned to
planting marijuana seeds to make a living and spurred an underground
industry that is booming across British Columbia.

Over the past year or so, a new generation of Americans has flocked into
western Canada, fleeing the Bush administration's crackdown on the clubs
that say they provide marijuana to sick people, particularly in California.

A few who face drug charges and convictions in the United States have
applied for political asylum. Hundreds more American marijuana smokers live
underground existences, local marijuana advocates say.

While general use of marijuana is illegal in both countries, Canada has
been far more tolerant of its use for medical purposes.

Most of the Americans here do not face charges at home, marijuana advocates
say, but came because they can get the drug more cheaply and easily here.
"Compassion clubs" thrive in several Canadian communities to serve what
they say are the medical needs of severe pain sufferers.

To Bush administration officials, the American fugitives are simply
lawbreakers. "It's regrettable that people who are charged with criminal
offenses in the United States don't face justice here and put a burden on
another country," said John Walters, President Bush's drug policy chief.

Steven W. Tuck, 35, a disabled Army veteran, fled to Canada pretending he
was going fishing after his club was repeatedly raided and he faced drug
charges. He was arrested for overstaying his visa and, fearing deportation,
applied for refugee status.

Sitting recently in Vancouver's Amsterdam Cafe, where smoking marijuana is
allowed, he was sweating and shaking while awaiting a friend who had gone
out to buy some. "I have to have marijuana to stay alive," said Tuck, who
said his torment began in 1987 with an Army parachuting accident that
caused spinal and brain injuries.

If he is sent home and denied marijuana, Tuck says, he fears he will die
"choking on my vomit in jail."