MARIJUANA ACTIVIST SENTENCED TO ONE DAY IN JAIL AFTER CONVICTION

Marijuana activist Ted Smith was sentenced to one day in jail Friday, the
lowest allowable sentence on his particular drug conviction for cannabis
cookies.

Justice R. Dean Wilson handed Smith the one-day sentence, rejecting Crown's
call for nine months to be served in the community.

Defence lawyer Robert Moore-Stewart told Wilson he would have asked for an
absolute discharge but the Canadian Criminal Code doesn't allow that when
the offence, like Smith's conviction, carries a maximum penalty of life.
Moore-Stewart asked for the one day.

Smith was convicted on Thursday of possession of tetrahyrdocannabinol (the
substance found in marijuana called THC) for the purpose of trafficking.

Unlike charges for marijuana or hashish, where quantities under three
kilograms are subject to a maximum penalty of five years less one day,
convictions for THC carry a maximum penalty of life.

The jury heard how police arrested Smith on Nov. 15, 2000 near the downtown
library.

He was unloading what was eventually found to be about 40 to 50 pounds of
chocolate chip cookies.

The officers were reacting to a newspaper article in which Smith was quoted
as saying he planned to give away several hundred marijuana cookies as part
of a pro-marijuana rally.

During the three-day trial, the defence presented evidence from an expert
in pharmaceutical chemistry to throw doubt on the laboratory analysis of
the cookies. The Health Canada analyst didn't even look at the cookies.
Instead, he performed a lab test of the greasy smear the cookies left on a
paper bag.

The defence expert said there are any number of legal products, hemp seed,
hemp oil, which contain THC and are used in baking.

But Crown counsel Richard Fowler presented evidence from an arresting
police officer who testified Smith openly admitted in an interview to using
about two ounces of marijuana to make the cookies.

Even Smith, after his conviction, said in an interview outside the
courtroom he regretted having such a "big mouth," particularly with
arresting police officers.

Just before he was sentenced, the judge asked Smith if he had anything to
say. Smith stated that he never intended to cause any person any harm.

Smith also said he has learned his lesson. There are other ways he can make
his point.

"I have no intention of actively flaunting the law so as to put myself at
risk," he said.

"Society has changed in the last five years and I'm no longer as driven as
I was."

Smith now has two convictions for trafficking, both times for passing out
samples at a rally. The first conviction, now under appeal, occurred in
January. He was arrested on Nov. 8, 2000 (about a week before his cookie
bust) for passing out joints at a demonstration at the University of Victoria.

Smith is a founding member of the Victoria Cannabis Buyer's Club. Commonly
called a compassion club, it's an organization that supplies marijuana as
medicine to people suffering incurable medical conditions.

Police have raided the club four times and 11 charges have been laid and
every one has been either dropped, stayed or overturned on appeal.