MARIJUANA CRUSADER SKIPS COURT, CALLS HIMSELF 'POLITICAL PRISONER'

A Calgarian who believes he's `a political prisoner' pleaded guilty to two
deliberate breach-of-probation charges in provincial court Thursday.

Marijuana crusader Grant Krieger had originally pleaded not guilty when he
was arrested last June. At the time he claimed he couldn't make the monthly
court-appointed meetings with his probation officer because he didn't have
enough money for the bus ride.

But Crown prosecutor Joline Antonio explained that was not the case at all
- - in fact Krieger never had any intention of reporting as ordered.

Last January, he was given an 18-month suspended sentence for a marijuana
trafficking conviction in Regina, and as part of his release he was ordered
to report to probation monthly.

`He believes he is a political prisoner of Canadian society,' Antonio told
the court. `The accused told his probation officer that he didn't intend to
report and he would blatantly use marijuana...he was defiant in his resolve
to break the law.'

She requested that Judge Douglas McDonald send Krieger to jail for his
defiance of his probation order.

Krieger's lawyer, Adriano Iovinelli, asked that his client receive only a
fine explaining this is the first time Krieger has been charged for breach
of probation.

He added the 46-year-old was using marijuana to help battle the pain from
multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease of the nervous system that causes
tremors, speech defects and paralysis.

When asked if Krieger had attended his probation since being charged,
Iovinelli said no, and that his client didn't believe it was necessary.

`I agree with a fine - he has a political stand he wants to put forward,'
ruled McDonald.

He ordered Krieger to pay $825 in fines by January 2001.

Meanwhile, there was a benefit for Krieger at the Republik Thursday night
to add to his legal war chest.

Iovinelli and Krieger are scheduled to start a four-day charter application
in Calgary Court of Queen's Bench in October. Krieger contends his rights
under the Charter of Rights to use an effective medicine - marijuana - to
ease his pain are being infringer.

His battle gained notoriety several years ago. In 1996, he was arrested in
Amsterdam while attempting to board a flight to Canada. He had one kilogram
of pot in his possession at the time, but was not prosecuted there.

And in 1998, he was slapped with a $550 fine after he lit up a joint on the
steps of Calgary's Court of Queen's Bench.