STIGMA LINGERS FOR MEDICAL POT

'There's A Big Stigma'

WINDSOR, Ont. -- Hugh calls it the "Cheech and Chong hurdle:" even
though the marijuana plants in his basement are legal, he's stuck
sneaking around like a teenager with a joint.

"Anybody that has their card, they don't want that to be public
knowledge. Would you? There's a big stigma," said Hugh, who asked to
be identified only by his middle name out of fear of a break in. "I
hold my cards close to my chest. I don't tell anybody."

Hugh, who uses the drug to relieve his multiple sclerosis symptoms,
is one of the few people in Windsor and Essex County with a medical
marijuana licence. Health Canada data obtained from an access to
information request by the Ottawa Citizen shows 42 people in the
region received a doctor's approval to buy or grow medical marijuana
between 2001 and 2007.

Patients and medical professionals say there are many more people who
desperately want authorization, but can't get doctors to sign the form.

That's because Canada's medical marijuana program remains in a legal
and medical grey area, with lots of anecdotal evidence of the drug's
benefits but few studies.

Hugh got his medical marijuana card four years ago, but it was a
long, hard struggle. His family doctor since childhood refused to
sign the approval forms, so he switched to a new one and finally got
the licence.

In the meantime, Hugh was buying street marijuana. He didn't like
doing it, but he liked the pain, muscle tightness and spasticity that
got worse when he stopped even less.

Hugh said he was skeptical at first, but marijuana worked where
pharmaceutical drugs had failed. That made him a candidate for legal
approval and Hugh was determined to get it.

"You want to do it legally. That was my big thing. I've got a
daughter," he said.

Many have failed where Hugh succeeded. The Health Canada data backs
up what Hugh and others say they've heard anecdotally: it's much
easier to get a medical marijuana card in some areas of Canada than
others and in Windsor-Essex, it's very, very difficult.

Only 15 people have received approval from a doctor in Windsor
between 2001 and 2007. All of them were granted to residents in a
fairly central area from Riverside to the downtown core - there have
been none granted in South Windsor, the west end or Tecumseh.

In the counties, it's a slightly different story. In an area that
includes Harrow and McGregor, five approvals have been granted.

Another five approvals have been granted in Lakeshore. Moving farther
east, doctors have granted 12 approvals in Tilbury, almost as many as
the entire City of Windsor.

Linda Barkhouse, a registered nurse who runs a program called
Concepts in Pain Management, grew up in Belle River and said there is
less social stigma attached to marijuana there. That might partly
explain the higher number of approvals, she said.

Tilbury has also had problems with teenagers stealing their parents'
prescription opiates and taking them at parties, so doctors may be
approving medical marijuana instead, she said.

"Maybe, in lieu, they feel safer prescribing medical marijuana in
Tilbury, because if it gets in the wrong hands, it won't be deadly."

It's practically impossible to overdose on marijuana, something that
can't be said for many common prescription pain medications. However,
doctors have less hard and fast information about safe doses and the
proper use of marijuana.

Until someone starts funding studies, they're likely to stay in the
dark. In 2006, the federal government stopped funding clinical trials
of medical marijuana.

Barkhouse said drug companies are unlikely to pick up where they left
off because there's no way to make money from a plant anyone can grow.

"No one's promoting it. No one's going around and saying, 'Oh, I'm
the rep from medical marijuana. Why don't I take you out for lunch
and buy you a text book?'" she said. "There's no one who owns
marijuana. No one will profit."

In spite of that fact, Barkhouse said evidence of marijuana's
effectiveness at treating pain is growing. The Canadian Pain Society
advocates further studies and the International Association for the
Study of Pain recently presented a paper suggesting it was more
effective than both a placebo and other available treatments, she said.

Still, Barkhouse said she's only approached a doctor to suggest
medical marijuana approval for a patient once, because she knows how
apprehensive they tend to be. That reluctance goes to the root of the
doctor's oath to do no harm.

In 2003, the Canadian Medical Association passed a resolution
opposing the use of marijuana for medical reasons until further
studies are done and strongly suggested doctors decline to sign
approvals. The CMA argues Canada's medical marijuana program puts
physicians in an awkward position by requiring their approval for a
treatment they feel has not been adequately studied and may even be
bad for people.

Hugh said he's heard of Windsorites travelling to Toronto to get
their forms signed by sympathetic doctors. Many, however, just bypass
the official system entirely.

Dawn, a 55-year-old fibromyalgia patient in Windsor, gets her
marijuana from a Toronto-based compassion club set up to help people
in medical need who can't or don't want to go through the government.
Dawn also requested her last name not be used because she doesn't
want to get in trouble with the law.

Dawn was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1995, a disease that causes
fatigue, joint tenderness and long-term pain. Before she started
smoking marijuana to treat her symptoms, Dawn said she was bedridden
because it hurt to much to get dressed or brush her hair.

Dawn said she used to take a cocktail of prescription drugs to treat
everything from nausea to insomnia and depression, but marijuana
takes care of all those symptoms without the side effects. With the
drug's help, she said she's been able to get out of bed and even hold
down odd jobs.

Dawn said the compassion club offers legal help if she ever gets in
trouble with the police, but she still keeps quiet about her
treatment. "I'm pretty private about it. I wouldn't just light it up
in the middle of the street. It really helps me and I wouldn't want
to get in trouble," she said.

Dawn said she couldn't get her former doctor to sign an approval form
for legal medical marijuana, but she hasn't bothered to ask her
current one. She said she doesn't feel comfortable growing her own
and doesn't want to smoke the dried marijuana provided by the
government, which many say is of poor quality.

The situation is frustrating, Dawn said. "I know it works. I'm proof
it works. It works for me and I know it works for a lot of other
people. It saved my life."

Meanwhile, Hugh said he'll keep staying within the law. Unlike Dawn,
he doesn't have to worry about police raids since he's registered at
headquarters.

However, he could still be the target of thieves. He keeps the plants
a secret from the eight-year-old daughter he worked so hard to
protect by getting legal approval.

Hugh said he's spent thousands of dollars on growing equipment and
he's worried the government could revoke his production licence under
proposed changes to the regulations. He said the risks and extra work
involved in growing his own marijuana are worth it, though.

"You try to keep a quality of life. It helps. I try to stay active
with my daughter. It helps you to do what you do."