EPILEPTIC WINS LIFETIME RIGHT TO MARIJUANA

Awaits Parliament

A man who was granted temporary legal permission to smoke and grow
marijuana to ease his epileptic seizures, has had the right extended until
Parliament recognizes an Ontario court's ruling that the drug has medicinal
uses.

Terry Parker said the ruling, which makes him the only lifetime legal pot
smoker in the country, came as a bittersweet relief.

"Today's not too bad, got an extension, won't be going to jail [but] I
should not be the only civilian in Canada to use marijuana for epilepsy,"
he said. "It should be people with cancer, MS [multiple sclerosis], the
whole gamut."

Mr. Parker was first granted the right to grow and possess marijuana by an
Ontario court in 1997, after a lengthy court battle over drug possession
and trafficking charges.

He was convicted of trafficking after police seized dozens of pot plants
from his home in 1996, and he admitted to sharing the drug with friends who
he said also had seizures.

In a landmark decision on the case in July, 2000, the court dismissed a
Crown appeal of Mr. Parker's exemption, and ruled that "prohibition on the
cultivation and possession of marijuana is unconstitutional." The judge
gave a one-year deadline before Canada's marijuana possession laws would
legally "lack force and effect."

The deadline passed with no legislative response.

Mr. Parker, who once again faced prosecution for his use of marijuana, was
given a six-month extension, which ended last week.

Mr. Justice Romain Pitt's latest ruling puts the onus back on Parliament to
recognize the court's earlier decision that marijuana has medical uses, and
protects Mr. Parker from future prosecution on possession charges.

Mr. Parker, who says a marijuana joint instantly relieves his symptoms of
pallor, grinding teeth and convulsions, had extensive financial support for
his legal bills -- more that US$25,000 -- from a think tank funded by
billionaire philanthropist George Soros.

He intends to continue his battle against Parliament with the help of Alan
Young, an Osgoode Hall law professor, who will guide efforts to push new
marijuana legislation.

Mr. Parker said he recently took in a two-ounce harvest from the marijuana
plants he grows in a spare bedroom.

Meanwhile, three of five candidates vying to replace Premier Mike Harris
for the leadership of Ontario's law-and-order Conservative party say
they've smoked pot.

Those who admitted it were: Ernie Eves ("Only at Argo [football] games ...
when you had to"), Jim Flaherty ("I didn't like it") and Chris Stockwell
("I never exhaled").

Those who denied smoking pot were: Tony Clement ("Not even a cigarette")
and Elizabeth Witmer ("I've never had any desire to do so.")