ILL MAN WINS COURT BATTLE OVER MARIJUANA CONVICTION

An ailing Lloydminster man who was convicted of drug charges but says
he uses marijuana for health reasons has won a victory in front of
Saskatchewan's highest court.

On Wednesday, the Court of Appeal agreed to reduce Barry Neil
Malanchuk's sentence to the approximately five months already served
under a form of house arrest.

"It was a fair decision under the circumstances," Malanchuk said
Friday. "I haven't really celebrated, though."

Malanchuk, 41, has diabetes, glaucoma, kidney disease, heart disease
and other maladies, but he says smoking marijuana helps ease his symptoms.

In August 2000, the RCMP charged him after finding eight full-grown
marijuana plants inside his house and a number of smaller plants
outside in his garden.

On January, 2002, following a three-day trial, Court of Queen's Bench
Justice Peter Dielschneider found Malanchuk guilty of possession of
marijuana, possession of cannabis resin and production of cannabis for
personal use.

He received a 15-month conditional sentence, which banned him from
using marijuana and restricted movement from his home.

When Malanchuk appealed to the Court of Appeal last month, the court
reduced his sentence to nine-months but he was still banned from using
non-prescription drugs.

However, May 9 the same day the court heard his case, Health Canada
issued a medical exemption to Malanchuk allowing him to produce and
possess marijuana.

Speaking before Chief Justice Ed Bayda and Justices William Vancise
and Gary Lane on Wednesday, Malanchuk's lawyer Michael Hall argued the
147 days Malanchuk has already served is enough.

The federal Crown had argued that Malanchuk's sentence shouldn't be
reduced further.

Even though Malanchuk now has a medical exemption, he didn't have the
exemption when he was caught with the pot, the Crown said in documents
filed with the court.

The Crown also said that at the time of his arrest, Malanchuk was
found to be in possession of a total of 61 growing marijuana plants.
The federal exemption granted last month allows only 15 plants.

However, the appeal court agreed with Hall and the rest of Malanchuk's
sentence was extinguished.

Malanchuk said the legal battle has taken a lot out of him -- he
suffered a heart attack a few weeks before his May appeal court
appearance, -- but the result has also restored some of his faith in
the system.