POLICE DELAY RETURN OF SEIZED POT PLANTS IN ORDER TO SEEK ADVICE

Grower Dismayed: 'I Know They'll Have to Give It Back Eventually'

Brian Carlisle had hoped to make Canadian history Tuesday by going to the
Hope RCMP detachment and picking up 51 marijuana plants and four growing
lights that had been seized in a drug raid.

Carlisle recently received approval from the federal government to grow and
possess up to 1,875 grams of pot for medicinal purposes.

His lawyer, Dale Pedersen, had received a phone call from the Hope RCMP's
exhibit custodian saying they could come and pick up the items seized in
the raid, including the plants, lights, a small container of pot and a pot
pipe.

Carlisle said he believes the return of the plants would be the first time
the RCMP had returned pot plants to growers.

But when Carlisle showed up with a group of supporters and several members
of the media Tuesday morning, he was told the release of the material had
to be okayed through Health Canada, which might take a day or two.

Carlisle was dismayed that his 15-month ordeal over the plants had been
extended.

"Justice delayed is justice lost, I feel," said Carlisle, 33. "I know
they'll have to give it back eventually. I just can't believe they're
delaying this another hour, day, minute. It's absurd. It's immoral. And
it's going to change."

Hope RCMP Staff Sergeant Jim Delnea said police tried to contact Carlisle
Tuesday morning to tell him there were further complications before he
would receive his pot back, but Carlisle was already en route to the police
station.

Delnea said that given the nature of the exhibits to be returned, he wanted
to make sure of the process before releasing them.

"This is a new area that we're into, and before I end up making a decision
as detachment commander on returning those exhibits, I'll make sure that
Health Canada gives us appropriate guidance," he said.

"There's lots of questions to be asked. We are talking to our department of
justice prosecutor to see what their position is on it, as well as Health
Canada."

Carlisle said he smokes high-grade marijuana every day to deal with a
number of ailments, including HIV, hepatitis C, glaucoma and chronic pain.

He applied for a licence to grow medicinal marijuana for his own use in
1999, and got approval to do so Sept. 9, 2002.

He was growing pot in a friend's shed in Hope when the police raided the
operation and seized the plants and grow lights in July, 2001.

With his supply of pot cut off, he founded the Holy Smoke Healing Centre
marijuana compassion club in Chilliwack to help supply the needs of
medicinal marijuana users like himself.

He said he has spent up to $537 in one day on the high-grade pot that he
needs for his ills.

Carlisle said he expects his pot plants to be dead when he gets them back.
If so, he said he may sue the RCMP over their loss.