CHARGES DISMISSED AGAINST POT GROWER

Retired firefighter let off after judge criticizes warrant

Retired city firefighter John Klaver hopes he'll soon be using his own
home-grown marijuana, now that drug charges against him have been dismissed.

A judge ruled Monday that 40 plants seized from Klaver's acreage home in
September 1998 couldn't be used at his trial because the RCMP search warrant
was invalid.

An officer who obtained the warrant didn't reveal there was more than one
residence on the property, which could have hurt the privacy rights of
innocent people, said Court of Queen's Bench Justice Edward MacCallum.

"In the world of narcotics production and trafficking, the Klaver operation
would pass almost unnoticed, at least on the scale where it stood."

Without this key evidence, Klaver and his wife Wendy were found not guilty
of cultivating and possessing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

Outside court, Klaver, 53, said he was happy the case is over, although he
looked forward to making the legal argument that he needed marijuana for
medicinal purposes.

The drug helped his alcohol-fuelled depression and got him to eat again
without the serious side-effects of prescription medication, he said.

"I thought I was on the verge of death at one time. I had lost the will to
live and everything else. Marijuana helped me. I can laugh now and again."

Klaver, who retired from firefighting in 1999 after 30 years of service,
said alcoholism and depression "run rampant" in the fire and police
departments.

He said he knows three or four firefighters in the past few years who've
died from alcoholism.

"Your duties lead to some terrible (stuff)."

Officials with both departments later denied any widespread concerns, saying
they offer counselling and other help to their members.

"We have 839 employees and have some problems, but I don't think it's much
different from any large organization," said acting fire chief Dick
Veldhuis.

"Being a firefighter is one of the most prestigious and important jobs in
the community. If there's any stress, there's a lot of support ... that
should reduce it."

Klaver said he hasn't stopped using marijuana since he was arrested,
although he wouldn't indicate whether he grows or buys it.

Klaver, who sold his house to pay legal bills, applied to Health Canada in
1999 for a medical exemption allowing him to possess and grow his own dope.
He's expecting a ruling in about two weeks. Defence lawyer Paul Burstein
said 170 permits have been granted.

There's solid medical information that marijuana is useful in treating pain,
depression and asthma, he said.

"Even if we're wrong ... marijuana has been repeatedly referred to as one of
the safest therapeutic substances known to mankind," he said. "No one in the
history of Western civilization has ever overdosed on marijuana."