Pubdate: Thu, 23 May 2002
Source: Daily News, The (CN NS)
Copyright: 2002 The Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/halifax/dailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/179
Author: Beverley Ware
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)

WOMAN SUFFERER JOINS MARIJUANA SUIT

A Nova Scotia woman with multiple sclerosis has joined six Ontarians 
in suing the federal government for access to marijuana.

Debbie Stultz-Giffin of Bridgetown, Annapolis Co., wants a court to 
order Ottawa to distribute more than 250 kilograms of dope grown by 
Health Canada in Manitoba.

She said her MS causes unrelenting muscle spasms and pain, and only 
marijuana provides any relief.

Stultz-Giffin has a federal medical marijuana exemption, which means 
she is legally allowed to smoke the drug to help with her pain and 
symptoms.

The hoops and loops that Health Canada forced me to jump through in 
order to be able to use my medication are ludicrous, she said in a 
news release yesterday.

The government is forcing gravely ill people to perform like circus 
bears in order to satisfy their unrealistic criteria, she said.

Stultz-Giffin said she fought nine months to find a doctor willing to 
fill out the paperwork for her to apply for an exemption to smoke 
marijuana.

The red tape forces people like her to get the drug on the black 
market at inflated prices with no quality control, she said.

Federal Health Minister Anne McLellan has said she wont release any 
of the marijuana to patients until it has been tested in clinical 
trials first.
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MAP posted-by: Josh