Pubdate: Fri, 21 Jan 2000 Source: London Free Press (CN ON) Copyright: 2000 The London Free Press a division of Sun Media Corporation. Contact: http://www.canoe.ca/LondonFreePress/home.html Forum: http://www.lfpress.com/londoncalling/SelectForum.asp Author: Antonella Artuso AIDS VICTIM WANTS FEDS TO SUPPLY MARIJUANA TORONTO -- A Toronto man with AIDS is taking the federal government to court to provide him with a supply of "safe, clean, affordable, high quality Canadian marijuana." Jim Wakeford, who won a Constitutional exemption to use marijuana to curb his nausea and stimulate his appetite, said it's dangerous and unfair to expect him to obtain his supply through the black market. Wakeford has struggled to grow his own supply of weed, and "caregivers" who helped him were charged by police. His lawyers filed an application to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice yesterday to force the federal government to provide legal marijuana and to protect caregivers from drug prosecution. Lawyer Alan Young said there are two international supplies of legally grown marijuana accessible to the federal government -- at a secret growing facility outside London, England, and at the University of Mississippi. Young said black market marijuana can contain all sorts of contaminants which could be dangerous to people with suppressed immune systems. "You don't know what you're buying," Young said. "It would be suicidal for them to obtain medicine that's tainted." Wakeford won the legal right through the courts to obtain and use marijuana as have 19 other Canadians. About another 80 people are trying to get the same exemption. The federal government is setting up clinical trials to study the medicinal use of the potent weed but Young said sick people can't wait for science. Young said the federal government is obliged to provide Wakeford with an immediate legal supply of marijuana, and ultimately, a homegrown product with its official stamp of approval. Marijuana is used to stave off nausea and to stimulate the appetite, a benefit commonly referred to as "the munchies.' Wakeford, who takes a powerful mix of AIDS drugs daily, said the mere sight of food can make him ill. AIDS sufferers, along with other people undergoing chemotherapy, can "waste" away from this lack of appetite. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea