HIV SUFFERER WILL CHALLENGE POT ARREST

SAINT JOHN - One of the first men to be arrested at Saint John's Cannabis
Cafe says he will fight in court for the right to use marijuana for medical
purposes.

Allan Merritt has HIV, and says the drug allows him to cope with the disease.

Merritt admits he was smoking pot when he was arrested May 9. He says
marijuana relaxes his muscles, eases the side effects of prescription drugs
and improves his appetite. "I've been using marijuana since I was released
from the hospital back in the year 2000."

Merritt spends much of his day in a wheelchair working at his flower stand
in the city market.

He says up until his arrest he had been making regular visits to the
Cannabis cafe to smoke. The cafe, which opened last month, welcomes people
wanting to smoke marijuana, but does not sell the drug.

Merritt says he was sitting with a friend at a table in front of the cafe's
picture window when a plain clothes police officer arrested him. The two
men were handcuffed and taken to the police station.

Merritt says he will use the case to change the way people like him are
treated in future. "I think that this is an ideal opportunity for me to
state my case and state the case for other people that have been trying the
get the legal authorization to use marijuana for a medicinal reason."

Merritt is scheduled to appear in court June 25. He's also been ordered not
to step inside the Cannabis Cafe.