MAN MOVING TO CANADA OVER POT

His backyard barbecue is rusting and the pool needs
maintenance.

A sign in the front yard lists the Ontario house for sale. It's
something David Fawcett said was an unpleasant but necessary step.

"We have lost everything," he said. "We're losing everything we own
because of this."

"This" is Fawcett's struggle with the law over his right to grow and
use marijuana for medical purposes, a right seemingly ensured by the
passage of Proposition 215 in November 1996.

His struggle will ultimately send him to Canada, where he says he can
live and practice his trade as a toolmaker and machinist while still
using marijuana to help alleviate the pain from his medical problems.

In a time when Californians - and many Americans in general - have
become more tolerant of the medical uses of marijuana, Fawcett, 45,
says the country's "drug war" mentality has ruined his life.

His problems began in the early '80s when he was diagnosed with
shingles, a viral disease that results in periodic blisters along the
nerve paths.

His doctor at the time prescribed cortisone shots and codeine pills,
but the side effects caused other problems.

"Too many cortisone shots would weaken my bones," Fawcett said. "And
when I took the codeine, I couldn't work at my job."

Several years later, a doctor told Fawcett he couldn't prescribe
anything officially, but suggested that if he had access to marijuana,
he should smoke it.

"It was before (Proposition) 215 had passed, and he took me aside,"
Fawcett said. "He said, 'If it works, keep doing it, but don't tell
anyone I told you.'"

It worked, so he kept doing it. He found that it made a significant
difference in reducing his pain.

When Proposition 215 passed in 1996, he thought of getting a
compassionate use certificate from his original doctor. That doctor
had moved back to Iraq and was no longer available.

It didn't matter until Oct. 15, 1999, when San Bernardino County's
special West End Narcotics Enforcement Team, armed with assault rifles
and wearing body armor, raided his home. They arrested him for
cultivation and possession of marijuana for sale and confiscated the
plants he had been growing.

"They killed my dog too," Fawcett said. "She was 19 years old and no
threat, but they sprayed her with pepper spray, and she had a stroke
and died."

He fought the charges, but was convicted and sentenced to 90 days in
jail. He then went through a comedy of errors when he showed up to
serve his time with four marijuana cigarettes in his pocket.

The bailiff threatened him with arrest for trying to smuggle marijuana
into jail, but he presented a certificate he had obtained in January
2000 from a Northern California doctor that said the marijuana was his
medication.

In the end, the court stayed his sentence rather than let him take
drugs into the jail.

"Ever since the raid, my life has gone to hell," Fawcett said. "I
haven't been able to get a job because I'm a convicted felon, and if
we aren't able to sell our house soon, we will lose it."

He has become something of a crusader for the medical marijuana
movement. That's why he was so disappointed Monday when the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that federal law does not allow a "medical
necessity" exemption from laws against the distribution of marijuana.

The ruling didn't overturn Proposition 215, but it did make it more
difficult for so-called "cannabis clubs" to operate under federal law.
Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas said that marijuana
has "no currently accepted medical use."

The decision does not affect those accused of cultivating marijuana
under state law, said Richard Maxwell, San Bernardino County's chief
deputy district attorney.

"We're still in the process of evaluating the decision," Maxwell said.
"But anyone growing even one plant is violating the law. In the past,
they have been able to use 'medical necessity' as a possible defense.
They can still do that in state court, but the feds could turn around
and prosecute them under federal law."

California law distinguishes between possession of small amounts of
marijuana for personal use (a misdemeanor with no jail time possible),
possession of larger amounts (a regular misdemeanor) and cultivation
or possession for sale (a felony).

"When law enforcement officials ask us about the law, we tell them
that possession of marijuana is still a federal violation," Maxwell
said. "But we are not responsible for enforcing federal law."

It's the state law against cultivation that got Fawcett into trouble,
even though he insists he never sold any and he only grew marijuana
for himself and a close friend who also has a doctor's
certificate.

"I had never been arrested in my life," he said. "I never even had a
moving violation. I'm very law abiding. I do not break laws. Now all
of a sudden, I'm a convicted felon. A felony for gardening? Give me a
break."

Maxwell's goal in telling his story, he says, is to show that
marijuana is more than "Reefer Madness" and Cheech and Chong movies.

"This is an herb given to man by God that men have been using for
6,000 years," he said. "People need to be educated about how nontoxic
marijuana is compared to some of the drugs my doctors were giving me."

Despite all that, despite notoriety that has gotten him the attention
of pro-cannabis groups such as NORML and the American Medical
Marijuana Association, Fawcett has grown weary of the fight.

Once his house is sold, he says he and wife, Rosa, will leave
California.

"We're going to move to Canada," he said. "They offer clemency - if
you have a skill, they'll take you in. And marijuana is 100 percent
legal in British Columbia. They sell it in coffee shops.

"We have got to get past this drug-war mentality in this country,
especially when it comes to marijuana. The so-called 'drug war' has
ruined so many people's lives."