STEP 1: TAKE A PINCH OF POT

Undercover officer learned recipe for making marijuana cookies at club that
sells to patients

An undercover police officer learned a fail-safe recipe for marijuana
cookies while posing as a patient seeking medicinal pot from Montreal's Club
Compassion last year.

Constable Jean Lacroix said he was able to observe how the non-profit centre
supplies marijuana to sufferers of chronic illnesses.

The Montreal Urban Community police officer was the first witness at the
trial of two volunteers arrested during a raid last February at the Rachel
St. centre.

Four months after the club opened, police went in and found 66 grams of
different grades of pot, worth at most $600 on the street.

Lacroix said the man with the cookie recipe was volunteer Marc St-Maurice, a
32-year-old full-time activist and head of the federal Marijuana Party.

The constable said he overheard St-Maurice explain the recipe to a woman
looking for baking tips.

"Mr. St-Maurice explained how and when to put the marijuana in the cookies,"
the constable told a judge. "He gave her a recipe and urged that she call
him if she had any problems."

Club Compassion people said afterward the recipe is very important, and the
pot must be mixed with a fat such as butter for its medicinal qualities to
come out.

The second volunteer charged is 22-year-old Alexandre Neron, who works as a
helper for a disabled university student. The two are charged with drug
trafficking and possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Their lawyer is contesting the drug law's constitutionality, saying it
doesn't take into account the special federal exemption granted to people
since 1998 to smoke pot to alleviate pain and side-effects from prescription
drugs. The trial resumes today to discuss the validity of the search warrant
before the constitutional points are debated next month.

St-Maurice said outside court the constitution fight will go to Canada's
highest court if necessary to help those in need.

He criticized the federal government for leaving patients in a Catch-22
situation. Though they can legally smoke pot for medical reasons, they have
no legal supply of the drug.

"If it takes people like us to put our heads on the chopping block for the
government to act, then that is what we will have to do," he said.

The club was visited twice by the undercover MUC police officer before
investigators raided the place on Feb. 10, 1999.

During the first visit, Lacroix said, he saw St-Maurice sell 4 grams of pot
for $8 each to one client and offer to deliver some more to another later in
the day.

That second client hadn't the proper paperwork filled out by a doctor, the
officer said.

St-Maurice admitted to the officer that distributing the drug was illegal
but the volunteer was willing to do it to help the man, who passed himself
off as a hepatitis C sufferer.

During the second visit, Neron weighed out 30 grams of pot on a scale and
sold it to a visitor, the officer added.

An hour later, police raided the place. They seized $55 in cash, the 66
grams of pot, documents, patient files and consent forms, Constable Daniel
Vachon testified.

The pot had names like Quebec Rooster, Freezeland, Outdoor 1999 and Argus,
he added.

Club Compassion reopened about six weeks after the arrests. They have not
been bothered by police since, said co-founder Caroline Doyer.

She said MUC police just sent letters to all the people whose names were
found in the club's files, telling them what they were doing was illegal.

"Their doctor says it is best they do it, but police say it is a no-no,"
Doyer added.

Some patients were scared off, though 55 clients remain, she said.