LEGAL POT SMOKER FIGHTS CRD EVICTION

Eric Young has a medical exemption allowing him to legally smoke marijuana.

But that didn't impress some of his neighbours in an apartment run by the
Capital Region Housing Corp. They complained that Young's marijuana smoke
permeated the hallways, seeped into other suites and even worsened existing
health problems of other tenants.

The corporation, run by the Capital Regional District, evicted Young and
his wife on the basis that the marijuana smoke posed a "nuisance" to other
tenants.

Young appealed, but an arbitrator upheld the corporation's decision. Young
then took his case to the courts. This week the B.C. Supreme Court is being
asked to decide whether a tenant can be evicted for exercising his legal
right to smoke pot.

Three years ago Young, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, was granted a
legal exemption by the federal health department to smoke marijuana to ease
his symptoms. He now smokes about 1.5 grams a day, and says in court
documents that marijuana is the only medicine he uses, "replacing a
cocktail of toxic drugs to keep the symptoms and the progression of
multiple sclerosis at bay."

Young and his wife Marlene say they took every step possible to ensure the
marijuana smoke didn't escape into the hallways.

They say they were harassed by other tenants who just didn't support the
idea of marijuana smoking.