BUSTED FOR HOLY SMOKE

BRACEBRIDGE -- A man who claims he is an ordained minister was busted
with almost half a kilo of pot yesterday during a traffic stop on
Hwy. 11 near Bracebridge.

"Rev." Michel Nathier, 53, of the Church of the Universe, admitted he
was smoking a joint when the OPP officer pulled him over but said he
was committing a holy act.

"It's a sacrament," Nathier said in an interview after he was
released from custody with a Sept. 2 court date.

PLANT BLESSED

Nathier said he has about 300 followers in the Sturgeon Falls area,
near North Bay, who believe that marijuana is the blessed plant
mentioned in the Bible as the "tree of life."

The church, which he said has chapters throughout Canada and the
U.S., has two rules: Don't hurt yourself and don't hurt others -- and
its followers routinely toke "the sacrament." It does not make one
stoned, "just enlightened," he insists.

"Ok, but it's still illegal," said a good-natured OPP Insp. Ed Medved.

Nathier was initially stopped because he was swerving between lanes,
Medved said.

When the officer stopped the car, a waft of the sacred herb came
floating out, police said. The officer seized almost a half kilo of
pot with a street value of between $1,500 and $3,000.

Nathier, who is already facing charges of possession of marijuana,
has been arrested for possession 10 times in 10 years and has spent
three years in jail. He'll fight the latest charge.