LEGION CHARTER SUSPENDED OVER MARIJUANA MEETING

MACCAN, N.S. - Officials with the Royal Canadian Legion have shut
down a Nova Scotia branch after members used the local hall to
promote the use of locally produced marijuana oil for cancer patients.

The Legion's Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command temporarily suspended the
charter of the Maccan branch and ousted its executive.

Provincial command chairman Steve Wessel said the legion name,
insignia and buildings cannot be used to promote the use of illegal substances.

"The Royal Canadian Legion has a very good reputation in the general
public and we don't want to soil that reputation by making it look
like we're backing something that clearly is against the law at this
point," Wessel said.

But one executive member said he's not backing down.

"This medicine is so phenomenal," Rick Dwyer of Maccan said Thursday.
"I'm so proud of the members for standing up and defending this."

Dwyer, the 51-year-old past president of the Maccan branch, said the
homemade marijuana oil is a safe, natural, cancer-curing substance.

He said his 82-year-old father has lung cancer and began consuming
the oil in June after he was given 48 hours to live. He's still
alive. Dwyer also said he knows other cancer patients who have been
helped by the drug.

The yellowish, grease-like medication is produced by extracting
essential oils from the leaves and buds of marijuana plants.

Dwyer and other Legion members say they made no secret of their
support for the oil and notified the provincial command and local politicians.