Pubdate: Mon, 4 Oct 1999 
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: Southam Inc.
Contact:  http://www.nationalpost.com/
Forum: http://forums.canada.com/~canada
Author: Luiza Chwialkowska, National Post  

'WHEN I TRY TO MEDICATE MYSELF, I'M ARRESTED'

While Allan Rock, the Health Minister, prepares to allow a growing
number of Canadians to access marijuana for medical use, the lawyer
who represents many of the affected patients is appealing to Mr.
Rock's cabinet colleague, Anne McLellan, the Justice Minister, to stay
the prosecutions of marijuana users who were arrested before Mr. Rock
began his exemption policy in June.

Allan Young, professor at Osgoode Hall law school, has asked Ms.
McLellan to intervene in the cases of individuals he represents.

At the top of his list is John Klaver, a 51-year-old veteran Edmonton
firefighter, who has been charged with cultivation of marijuana and
possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Mr. Klaver, who had reached the rank of captain and received an
Exemplary Service Medal for 20 years of work, resigned from the
Edmonton Emergency Response Department after the drug charges cost him
the trust of his superiors.

Mr. Klaver says he used the marijuana as an appetite stimulant after
clinical depression had robbed him of his desire to eat.

In September, 1998, RCMP raided Mr. Klaver's house near Stony Plain,
Alta. Inside was a crop of 37 cannabis plants Mr. Klaver was
cultivating.

Mr. Klaver and his wife, Wendy, could face six months in prison. Their
trial is scheduled for Feb. 22.

"I lost my will to live. I had no appetite whatsoever," says Mr.
Klaver, who, at a height of six feet, had dropped more than 50 of his
200 pounds during the course of one year. "I'm a typical redneck. I
like eggs and sausages in the morning," says Mr. Klaver, who found
himself refusing even toast.

"I knew I could eat like a pig when I took marijuana," he
says.

In addition, marijuana helped relieve the chronic pain that Mr. Klaver
suffered after a fall through the floor of a house left him with a
collapsed disc in his back.

A recovered alcoholic, Mr. Klaver once drank a bottle of whiskey a day
after a shift that often involved dragging the dead from fire wreckage.

"I'm allowed to drink myself to death," he says. "But when I try to
medicate myself, I'm arrested."

His depression grew as he became embroiled in political disputes
within the fire force. An anonymous letter he wrote to the press --
outlining the mishandling of a major Edmonton fire -- led to upheaval
on the force. He says the battles took an emotional toll. After
learning of the suicide of a fellow firefighter, he began to
contemplate killing himself.

Mr. Klaver turned to marijuana after he stopped drinking and sought
help for the depression. With the support of his doctor, he took
marijuana before meals.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake