Pubdate: Sun, 05 Aug 2001
Source: Winnipeg Sun (CN MB)
Copyright: 2001 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact:  http://www.fyiwinnipeg.com/winsun.shtml
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/503
Author: Dick Chapman
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)

'LET ME HAVE MY WEED'

Legal Pot Plan Frustrates Gulf War Vet Seeking Pain Relief

TORONTO -- Canada's fledgling plan to let sick people get medical 
marijuana is like an exasperating episode in Joseph Heller's anti-war 
novel Catch-22, Gulf War veteran Tim Carriere says.

The Campbellcroft man says Canada's cannabis catch-22 goes like this: 
The federal government may allow you to have it, but it's very 
difficult to find any -- legally. And even if you can, you can hardly 
afford it.

Carriere, 38, is battling the Veterans Affairs department for 
reimbursement for medical marijuana for his severely arthritic knees. 
He wants "tens of thousands of dollars" for previous use of Marinol, 
a prescribed marijuana derivative in pill form, and wants the VA to 
pay about $45,000 for a home-growing operation.

After two years of red tape, he finally got a legal exemption from 
Health Canada last month -- under its old medical pot rules -- to use 
and grow marijuana as a pain reliever and anti-inflammatory for 
osteoarthritis in his knees.

The 6-foot-5, 140-pound Carriere has other ailments -- arthritis in 
his hips, ankles, elbows and hands; lupus; lung disease; bipolar 
affective disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. But his 
federal pot permit is based on his knee ailments.

As a war veteran, Carriere figures he's entitled to free federal pot 
- -- not yet available -- or a $45,000 hydroponic pot lab.

Carriere had a visit from OPP officers last week to review security 
for storing and growing pot, and realized an eight-foot fence around 
his acreage near Port Hope would cost $10,000.

Ottawa should pay, he says. After all, as a war vet he's entitled to 
free medication, therapy, medical devices -- even home and automobile 
renovations -- for illness or disability acquired in our armed 
forces. Carriere says all his ailments are rooted in his exposure to 
uranium aboard contaminated Canadian military aircraft during the 
Gulf War.

'Didn't Ask For This'

"I apologize to the whole country for getting hurt at work," Carriere 
says bitterly. "I gave 11 years to the service of my country. I 
didn't ask for this. I've been put through the wringer. I'm very 
proud that I made it through the application process because they 
sort of made up the rules as they went along.

"Veterans Affairs has totally destroyed my life over this. I'm a 
hermit. I have no friends."

Unlike mind-numbing morphine, pot simply "takes the edge off" his 
pain but leaves him alert. With three joints a day, he says he can 
function almost normally. Carriere consumes most marijuana in 
muffins, cookies, cereal and filtered coffee, since failing lungs 
make it inadvisable to smoke it -- the best way to get the full 
effect.

However, like hundreds of Canadians already licensed under previous 
rules or thousands more who will soon meet new federal rules for 
medical pot, Carriere is caught in an irony: Now that he's cleared 
for use, there's precious little available.

The only legally approved mass producer, Prairie Plant Systems of 
Saskatoon, will not be shipping any retail pot from its underground 
site at Flin Flon until at least December.

Meanwhile, Ottawa isn't providing marijuana seeds to those previously 
approved to use it.

No VA spokesmen was available to comment at its Peterborough office, 
or at Ottawa.
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MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe