PUBLICITY LEADS TO POT THEFT

"Let me die in peace" is the message Tom Shapiro wants sent to two
teenagers who broke into his Ottawa Street home early Monday morning
and demanded he hand over his pot.

The Regina man, who has a licence to grow and use marijuana to ease
symptoms of AIDS, is now worrying for the safety of himself and his
wife due to his advocacy of medical marijuana use.

Around 1 a.m. Monday, Shapiro said he was with his wife in their
living room when she noticed two teenage boys walking by, pulling up
the hoods on their sweatshirts. The pair came up the walk and pulled
open the home's locked screen door.

"He said, 'We just want the pot,' " Shapiro said.

Shapiro said he handed over about four ounces of dried marijuana and a
$20 bill on the coffee table. One of the teens, he said, rifled
through his array of AIDS medications and pocketed some pain killers.
They then left the house, warning Shapiro not to call the police, he
said.

But Shapiro did call the police, who responded to the home. A file of
break, enter and commit robbery is being investigated by the Regina
Police Service's street crimes section, said spokeswoman Elizabeth
Popowich.

Shapiro became a public figure in support of medical marijuana use in
February, after police confiscated his grow equipment and marijuana
plants when a mix-up with Health Canada caused his licence to lapse.
He eventually got his licence renewed and both his pot and equipment
back from police.

The ordeal, which played out in the local media, made him vulnerable
to criminals looking for marijuana, Shapiro said.

"That put me in the limelight; that made me a target," he
said.

Now, Shapiro has installed security cameras and an alarm system, and
is considering selling his home. Unlike illegal drug users, Shapiro
said he won't hesitate to call the police if an incident like this
happens again.

And in addition to some jittery nerves, Shapiro said the robbery has
left him a little short on pot.

"I'm going to be out of commission for a while," he said.