MOTHER TERESA-LIKE CARING BEHIND POT CLUB, COURT TOLD

Like Mother Teresa helping lepers in India, Ted Smith was compelled by
compassion to sell marijuana to the sick of Victoria, a provincial court
judge heard.

Defence lawyer Robert Moore-Stewart said compassion and altruism, which at
their most extreme compelled Mother Teresa to help lepers, moved Smith to
supply medical marijuana.

Smith's "circumstances put him in touch with these individuals in need of
medical marijuana," said Moore-Stewart at Smith's trial Wednesday. "He was
compelled by altruism."

Smith, 35, a long-time marijuana activist and Colby Budda, 30, are charged
with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking.
The charges stem from a Jan. 3, 2002 police raid on a Johnson Street
storefront known then as Ted's Books.

The store was what is commonly referred to as a compassion club. Marijuana
was sold to people with chronic illnesses or conditions such as AIDS,
Hepatitis C or arthritis.

Clients were requested for written proof of their condition, like a
doctor's note. At the time of the arrest, the club had approximately 800
members.

Moore-Stewart also made comparisons between Smith's medical-marijuana
operation and Dr. Henry Morgentaler's abortion clinic. Like Morgentaler,
who broke the law by providing abortions to keep women from back-street
clinics, Smith broke the law to save his clients from black-market drug
dealers, he said.

"It was always about safety of the individuals involved and the safety of
the supply," said Moore-Stewart.

Crown counsel Michael Lawless, in his closing remarks, took issue with the
level of medical proof Smith was demanding of customers.

Smith is not a doctor and therefore should not be taking it upon himself to
prescribe a drug treatment like marijuana. Also, Lawless said testimony
indicates Smith's club, despite assertions it was non-profit, was pulling
in as much as $2,000 a day.

Lawless said it was not all about compassion. "Mr. Smith lives off the
profits of the store.

"Mr. Smith is in fact the black market," said Lawless. "He is acting
outside the law."

"That he has a political agenda to fashion is clear," he said. "But that's
an issue for him to take up with Parliament while he acts in compliance
with the law."

Judge Loretta Chaperon reserved her verdict until July 14.

But Chaperon indicated she is in accord with at least some of the arguments
from Smith's lawyer. She noted that at the time of Smith's arrest, the
federal government had approved marijuana for medicinal use. But it had yet
to make any effort to provide a legal source of marijuana.

"It's a Catch-22 situation for these people," said Chaperon.

Now, the federal government provides medical marijuana to patients via
courier. The marijuana is grown in a mine shaft near Flin Flon, Manitoba
but users have been critical of its quality.