'WE'LL APPROVE MARIJUANA PRESCRIPTIONS'

Marijuana 'no different than Aspirin,' Health Canada official says

Health Canada is prepared to approve the use of marijuana as a legal
medicine in emergency situations.

Yesterday, the department turned down a request by an Ottawa doctor to
provide an area AIDS patient with marijuana because of two technical flaws
in the application.

But Dann Michols, the man in charge of regulating all drugs and medical
devices in Canada, says Health Canada is ready to approve the use of
marijuana on a casebycase basis as long as these flaws are corrected.

"Yes, it would be approved if the changes are made," Mr. Michols said.

"There is no problem, basically, with marijuana as a medicine.

"We have said this all along and our minister (Allan Rock) has said it all
along: Marijuana as a medicine is not an outlandish proposition. Marijuana
is no different than morphine, no different than codeine, no different than
Aspirin. There just has to be a process where we are able to say they have
undertaken the right experiments and produced a result that shows the
benefit is greater than the risk for the individual patients."

Dr. Don Kilby, a physician at the University of Ottawa health clinic, had
been seeking Health Canada's permission to prescribe marijuana to Jean
Charles Pariseau, a Vanier man who has AIDS.

When Dr. Kilby began treating Mr. Pariseau, the man weighed only 82 pounds
and had a prognosis of three months to live. Doctors had prescribed dozens
of different appetite stimulants and nausea fighters to help Mr. Pariseau
keep down the 30odd pills he takes a day to control his AIDS and help him
eat food.

None of the them worked, so on the advice of a friend, Mr. Pariseau tried
marijuana.

To the astonishment of Dr. Kilby, Mr. Pariseau's weight shot up to 100
pounds and he changed his prognosis from three months to live to three
years to live.

But Mr. Pariseau was arrested by the RCMP in October and charged with
possession of marijuana. The police also seized his supply of drugs.

After a month of research, Dr. Kilby, aided by a team of lawyers and
medical assistants, discovered a legal way to get Mr. Pariseau his marijuana.

Dr. Kilby applied to Health Canada's Emergency Drug Release Program to have
marijuana approved for Mr. Pariseau's use. This program allows unauthorized
medicines to be approved on a casebycase basis, usually within 72 hours
of the application being made.

All Dr. Kilby had to do was prove that the unapproved drug marijuana
helped his patient.

Dr. Kilby filed an application to the Emergency Drug Release Program on
Wednesday. Yesterday, Health Canada announced it would turn down the
application because of two technicalities.

The first was that Dr. Kilby doesn't have a research licence under the
Controlled Drug and Substance Act. He said yesterday he would apply for one
and Mr. Michols said it is likely that application would be approved.

The second problem may be slightly more complicated.

Under the Emergency Drug Release Program, each time a doctor applies for a
drug to be approved, he must list the name of the "manufacturer" of that
drug. Dr. Kilby listed Aubert Martin, an Ottawa man with 20 years'
experience growing marijuana who has agreed to provide the drug for Mr.
Pariseau.

But according to Mr. Michols, Mr. Martin also has to have a research
licence under the Controlled Drug and Substance Act before marijuana can be
approved as a medicine for Mr. Pariseau.

"Our challenge is to make sure that the product that the physician wants
access to is safe and of quality," Mr. Michols said.

Mr. Martin would have to prove that he has a secure, safe environment to
grow the marijuana and has a background in medical research, a situation
Mr. Michols deems unlikely.

So, if Dr. Kilby is successful in his application for a research licence,
he must find a different source for marijuana, one that has a Controlled
Drug and Substance Act research licence.

"It's not that major of a hurdle," says Mr. Michols.

Most research institutes, universities and pharmaceutical companies in
Canada have this research licence. If Dr. Kirby finds just one that is
willing to ask Health Canada for permission to experiment with marijuana
and then promises to become a supplier, Health Canada should approve
marijuana as a medicine for Mr. Pariseau.

"I don't feel that bad about (the application) being shot down," Dr. Kilby
said yesterday. "We knew we would have some hurdles that we'd have to go
through yet and I'm optimistic that we're going to meet their requirements.
There's a way around this problem and we're going to get around it."

Other controlled substances, including heroin and cocaine, are approved for
medical use in Canada.

In a poll of 1,515 Canadians conducted by Angus Reid earlier this year, 83
per cent of those asked supported the legalization of marijuana for
medicinal purposes.

Aside from the Emergency Drug Release Program, which only applies to
isolated case, marijuana could also be permanently approved for medical use
in Canada if a strict set of tests are performed on the drug.

Mr. Michols says marijuana hasn't been granted permanent approval for
medical use in Canada because it can cost millions of dollars and take up
to ten years to put a drug through the Health Canada tests.

Commercial drug manufacturers, usually the only ones with the money to
finance these tests, shy away from testing natural products such as
marijuana because it is unlikely they will recover their money.

"I can only conjecture, but it probably has to do with the inability to
ensure market exclusivity," says Mr. Michols. "You have millions and
millions going into patented medicines because they can patent it and
recoup their costs. (Marijuana) is not dissimilar to the situation with
other herbal remedies: you go to all the trouble of proving a herb helps a
common cold and then once you've spent the money, there's nothing to stop
someone else from coming along and growing the same thing without the
burden of the testing costs."