Pubdate: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 Source: Medicine Hat News (CN AB) Copyright: 2003 Alberta Newspaper Group, Inc. Contact: http://www.medicinehatnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1833 Author: Doug Hintz Note: Doug Hintz is the city editor for the Medicine Hat News Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) POT RESEARCH UP IN SMOKE The announcement on Wednesday that the federal government is prepared to begin selling marijuana to people authorized to use it for medicinal purposes is a small victory for those who have long been lobbying to make the drug available. The announcement comes on the deadline set by an Ontario court judge for the government to come up with regulations for distributing medicinal marijuana, a decision the government is appealing. The ruling gives about 500 Canadians the immediate right to access the drug, but it is likely to be short-lived -- if the government wins the appeal, it has made it clear that access will again be denied. More troubling about the plan is that the government has yet to complete a single study on the medical benefits of the drug, despite spending a reported $10 million over four years since former health minister Allan Rock announced a major effort to do just that. For four years the government has grown marijuana at a special facility in Flin Flon, Man., without making any available to scientists for research. Four years and no official confirmation of either the benefits or potential harm of the drug. Ten-million dollars wasted so far. While it hardly compares to the billion-dollar boondoggle of the federal firearms registry, it is just another example of government mismanagement. Now, forced into making marijuana available -- primarily to people suffering from the devastating effects of AIDS -- the government may simply end up taunting them by taking away access pending the result of the appeal. Many of those patients insist smoking marijuana relieves their chronic pain -- but just because patients think something is good for them, doesn't mean it is. Besides, in the absence of government support, the results of these personal trials -- no matter how successful -- mean nothing. To be sure, in the absence of any actual studies on the benefits of the drug, the government runs the risk of doing more harm than good to the people to whom access is granted. It's about time the federal government stops blowing smoke, provides some hard evidence one way or another as to whether marijuana has any real medical benefit, and puts an end to the needless suffering of sick Canadians. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake