HASH SMUGGLER ORDERED TO GIVE $500 TO POLICE DOGS

Being caught with a chunk of hashish stuffed in his sock resulted in a
Briton forking over a $500 donation to the police canine unit Friday.

"It was through the work of a police dog that your activities were
uncovered," provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux said to Richard
James Gebruers.

"A donation to the (Calgary Police Service) District 1 dog training
fund would be a laudable thing."

The 27-year old man from Manchester, England, admitted he had a
23-gram piece of hashish - a resin made from the pollen of a marijuana
plant - when he attracted the attention of a drug-sniffing dog at
Calgary International Airport on Tuesday.

He intended to consume the drug which had a street value of $345, to
treat a mobility problem, said defence lawyer Ian Baird.

"He uses it to treat a congenital problem with the sciatic nerve in
his back. He does not smoke it for recreational purposes."

"Traditional mainstream medicine doesn't improve my mobility. The
pain I can bear, but mobility is paramount to me."

Court heard he came to Canada to attend a friend's wedding in Medicine
Hat this weekend.

"He apologizes for breaking the laws of Canada," Baird said before
asking the judge to consider a conditional discharge for the accused
on the charge of possession of a controlled substance.

Crown prosecutor Cindy Peters objected to the request, saying it was
not in the public interest.

But Lamoureux disagreed and ordered a conditional discharge.

"I am granting you a form of release which is unique and unusual
because the facts of your case are unique and unusual. Normal cases
of bringing that amount of drugs into the country would usually result
in jail or a high, high fine," the judge said.

After making the donation, Gebruers won't have a criminal record.