Pubdate: Tue, 16 Sep 2003
Source: Lethbridge Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2003 The Lethbridge Herald
Contact:  http://www.mysouthernalberta.com/leth/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/239

GOV'T POT STINKS - TOKERS

First Tokers Of Health Canada Cannabis Call It Disgusting, Want
Refund

OTTAWA - Some of the first patients to smoke Health Canada's
government-approved marijuana say it's "disgusting" and want their
money back.

"It's totally unsuitable for human consumption," said Jim Wakeford,
58, an AIDS patient in Gibsons, B.C.

"It gave me a slight buzziness for about three to five minutes and
that was it. I got no other effect from it."

Barrie Dalley, a 52-year-old Toronto man who uses marijuana to combat
the nausea associated with AIDS, said the Health Canada dope actually
made him sick.

"I threw up," Dalley said Monday. "It made me nauseous because I had
to use so much of it. It was so weak in potency that I really threw
up."

Both men are returning their 30-gram bags and Dalley is demanding his
money back, $150 plus taxes.

Wakeford is returning his unpaid bill with a letter of
complaint.

A third AIDS patient says he's also unhappy with the product, which is
supposed to contain 10.2 per cent THC, the main active ingredient.

"I think Health Canada certainly should do better with the
quality."

All three are among a handful of patients who have registered with
Health Canada to buy dope directly from the government to alleviate
their medical symptoms.

The department was compelled to begin direct distribution in July,
following an Ontario court order earlier this year that said needy
patients should not be forced to get their cannabis on the streets or
from authorized growers, who themselves obtain seeds or cuttings illegally.

The marijuana is being grown for Health Canada deep underground, in a
vacant mine section in Flin Flon, Man., by Prairie Plant Systems on a
$5.75-million contract.

The department originally intended the product go first to accredited
researchers to demonstrate whether or not cannabis is medically effective.

Health Minister Anne McLellan has said she opposes the direct
distribution of government cannabis to patients and that the program
will end if the department wins its appeal of the Ontario court decision.
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