Pubdate: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 Source: Ottawa Citizen (Canada) Contact: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/ Author: Stephen Bindman BLOC DEMANDS MARIJUANA DEBATE The Bloc Quebecois wants a full parliamentary debate on the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. MP Bernard Biras presented a motion yesterday in the Commons calling on the Liberal government to take "all necessary measures" to decriminalize marijuana for therapeutic reasons. Mr. Bigras said it's time for the government to stop studying the issue and come up with a clear position. Doctors, criminologists, the terminally ill and the media -- but not the elected representatives in the Commons -- have all begun to debate legalization, he complained. "It is unacceptable that terminally ill people are paying the price for the lack of political courage of this government," the 29-year-old Rosemont MP told a press conference. "Legislators have shown a total lack of comprehension and compassion towards the chronically ill who aspire to nothing but to live with dignity. The situation is urgent because every day of suffering counts for these people." A Reform MP has already introduced a similar private-member's motion asking that MPs debate the issue. Last year, an Ontario court ruled a Toronto man suffering from severe epilepsy has a constitutional right to cultivate, possess and smoke pot to alleviate his symptoms. The federal government is appealing that ruling but similar constitutional challenges are under way in courts across Canada. Justice Minister Anne McLellan said yesterday she has sympathy for people who believe marijuana can alleviate their suffering, but she would not say when a study by officials in her department and Health Canada will be completed. Until it is, she said, Canada's drug laws will be enforced. Advocates of the medicinal use of marijuana contend it promotes appetite and suppresses nausea, making it a potential lifesaver for cancer or battling the wasting syndrome caused by AIDS. An Angus Reid poll last year found 83 per cent of respondents supported the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. "Buyers' clubs" have popped up across Canada for patients whose doctors advise them to smoke marijuana. The Bloc's motion was strongly endorsed by Ottawa physician Don Kilby, who has applied to Health Canada for a special permit to supply a patient with marijuana to help relieve some of his AIDS symptoms.