MARIJUANA REFUGEE FACES DEPORTATION

An Odd Twist Is That Steven Tuck Donated Seeds to Start Canada's
Medical Pot Program

Steven Tuck, one of a number of high-profile American medical
marijuana refugees, is hoping an 11th-hour appeal to the Federal
Court will halt his Immigration Canada-ordered return to the U.S.

The wiry, loquacious 38-year-old says he deserves protection from
pot-production charges in California because he donated thousands of
pot seeds to Health Canada's fledgling medical marijuana program when
he entered the country half a decade ago.

Severe injuries during his military service left Tuck with chronic
pain for which he takes a variety of medication that leaves him
constantly nauseous. He smokes marijuana to relieve the nausea, much
as AIDS or cancer treatments use the drug.

Tuck's case is important because he is one of hundreds -- perhaps
thousands, according to some lawyers -- of U.S. citizens who have
fled to Canada along what is known as the Underground Marijuana Railroad.

It's a hegira not unlike the exodus of the Vietnam-era draft-dodgers,
triggered by harsh, mandatory U.S. federal prison sentences for pot offences.

But Tuck's situation is also unique.

Aside from his odd relationship with Ottawa, in the last year he also
tangled with Eastern European drug dealers in wilderness
confrontations that included drive-by shootings last summer on the
rugged banks of Ashlu Creek, about an hour from Squamish.

A well-known activist with the B.C. Compassion Society, the city's
medical pot dispensary, Tuck had his refugee claim denied last year
and he was ordered out of the country.

He asked for a review, however, on the grounds that he faced cruel
and unusual treatment at the hands of Uncle Sam because he faces
pot-growing charges in California.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada concluded there is no such risk
and told Tuck to report to the Canada Border Services Agency in
Surrey Thursday to be surrendered to U.S. authorities.

"My need for medical cannabis is the central point in my seeking the
protection of Canada -- I might not survive due process if I were
deprived of cannabis while being held on bail awaiting trial," Tuck
said. "I was advised by my attorney to flee for my life."

The department added that Tuck should be sent back because there is
no expert evidence to support his medical claims: "Whether this pain
and condition requires treatment with marijuana has not been
established by the applicant, beyond his personal assertions."

It found his seed donation to Health Canada irrelevant.

"I offered voluminous medical records from the United States, but
that was not acceptable," Tuck said.

I think it's a curious tale.

Here's a guy being told he must return to California for growing
medical pot but whose seeds Ottawa was willing to accept, even though
- -- dare I say it -- they were one of the so-called fruits of his
allegedly illicit labours.

"The government of Canada is complicit with me if anything," Tuck
complained. "These seeds were accepted by Canada in order to start
its medical cannabis production, but the government of Canada is now
willing to have me die because I am denied access to the medicine
they were willing to break international law to obtain."

Tuck spent the past few years prospecting at the head of Howe Sound
for a small private mining firm.

Ironically, he discovered a large outdoor pot plantation on land
covered by the mining lease.

But because of his history, when he reported it, the RCMP initially
targeted him rather than the real culprits -- who embarked on a
campaign of intimidation to oust the miners that included drive-by
fusillades and extensive vandalism.

Aside from the constant harassment from the criminals, Tuck was
arrested and jailed by the Squamish RCMP, who suspected he was behind
the grow-op.

He says the Mounties threatened to take him to the border and hand
him over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and only the
intervention of friends and his lawyer led to his release.

In August, the RCMP seized 1,300 plants and arrested two armed men
unconnected to the mining company at the isolated, secluded pot
plantation Tuck had identified.

Tuck's down to hoping the Federal Court gives him an ear.