'COMPASSION CLUB' TO OPEN DOORS

Offering Pot, Head-Shop Owner Says He'll Sell Only To Those With
Doctor's Certificate

Another pot-smoking club is preparing to open in Montreal, setting the
stage for a clash with a police force committed to enforcing the law
as it stands.

David Mckenzie, who runs the Duchesse d'Amsterdam head shop on Mackay
St., has acquired the lease at the former Bistro California on St.
Denis St.

On Friday, Mckenzie plans to open a "compassion club" there and sell
marijuana to anyone who can show proof of a medical condition that
would qualify for legal pot from the federal government. The club and
smoking lounge will have a strict no-alcohol policy.

"It will probably be the spot on the street where there are the least
amount of problems," Mckenzie said yesterday about the area, known for
its bars.

"If anyone shows up drunk and stupid, they won't get
in."

The Manitoba-born Mckenzie, 48, who has been smoking marijuana since
his teens, says he also uses pot to ease the pain of a 24-year
sciatica condition.

"In the rest of Canada it's not so hard to get medical marijuana, but
doctors here are reluctant to sign for patients.

"It's easier to get morphine through the system than it is to get
medical marijuana."

Though he says pot smoking eases his sciatica, Mckenzie says he also
tokes up for pleasure.

While he plans to have a lounge for "social smokers," McKenzie will
sell only to anyone who has a doctor's note certifying a condition
that would qualify for medical marijuana.

He plans to charge about $200 for 25 grams. It will be local weed, as
"the stuff that's grown here in Quebec is comparable to anyplace."

Montreal police also have plans. They will bust the place, as they did
in November when Chez Marijane opened on Rachel St. E., Constable
Miguel Alston said. "For sure, if anyone is selling drugs, an arrest
is possible anytime," Alston said.

Marijuana Party leader Marc Boris St. Maurice was among several
arrested at Chez Marijane. He has pleaded not guilty to possession,
and yesterday he welcomed the new initiative.

"It will certainly put the issue back on the map, and that's always a
good thing," he said. "The more you apply a bad law, the sooner it
leads to the law's demise."