MEDICAL MARIJUANA 'STILL VALID': MCLELLAN

The minister denies the project has been shelved.

EDMONTON -- The federal government isn't backing away from its plan to
supply patients with medical marijuana, Health Minister Anne McLellan said
yesterday, bristling at earlier reports the project has been shelved.

Her department hopes clinical trials on research-grade pot can begin at the
end of fall or in early winter, McLellan said, refuting suggestions she
isn't keen to go ahead with the controversial plan to distribute marijuana
for medicinal purposes.

"In fact, far from shelving it, what we're doing is implementing the second
stage," McLellan said.

The first stage was to pass legislation last summer amending drug laws so
that people with certain medical conditions -- such as multiple sclerosis,
HIV, cancer and Crohn's disease -- could apply for special exemptions that
would allow them to use pot to relieve their symptoms.

"We have 855 of those people. More people continue to apply," McLellan said.

After a news report last week suggested the plan was being shelved, she said
some patients called the government and asked if their exemption was being
taken away.

"Of course not," McLellan added. "That process is in place. It will
continue."

The second stage is clinical trials. "Clinical trials are absolutely key,
especially for us in the Department of Health," McLellan said, repeating
what she told the Canadian Medical Association earlier this month.

The safety, efficacy and long-term effects of marijuana must be studied --
just like any drug, she said.

"If we let it go on the market and somebody died, you people would be the
first to say, 'Oh look, there's the Department of Health not discharging its
responsibility in relation to protecting the safety and security of
Canadians.' "