CRUSADER RESIGNS FROM COMPASSION CLUB

Marijuana crusader Grant Krieger has resigned from the Universal Compassion
Club he founded last year and has turned his attention to finding better
ways for cannabis and similar plants to relieve pain than smoking.

The 45-year-old Calgary man suffers from multiple sclerosis and has been in
a legal battle for several years over the right to use the illicit drug for
medical purposes.

He's now in the process of starting an alternative medical research
foundation in his name to assist himself and others with crippling
illnesses.

`The way the compassion club was going, at some point the government was
going to close them down,' Krieger, whose son Adam, also resigned as a
member of the club, said Tuesday.

`The way the government is doing it, some will get (exemptions to smoke
cannabis for medicinal purposes) and others will go to jail.

`My lungs are hatched. I have to find another way. I do enjoy eating
(cannabis) so I'll put it into foods, like butter, that are much more
palatable.'

Nona Czayka, one of 35 club members, agreed the Krieger's resignations were
over different approaches to doing things.

But she declined to elaborate, just adding Krieger `was thinking of getting
into research.'

She said the mandate of the club - to find a safe, reliable supply of
therapeutic cannabis-will stay the same, despite recent leaked information
on members applying to the federal government for exemptions.

Czayka said only one member of the club currently has an exemption and
several others who applied for exemptions are now scared to continue after
their confidential information was leaked.

`A lot of them are scared, with good reason,' said Czayka. `And now that
that has happened, we're at a loss. Everyone is in the dark.'

Krieger said there are more than 1,500 varieties of cannabis plants, many
methods of cultivation and ingestion and plenty of scope to study the
plants to determine their best uses for different medicinal problems.

He said he has support nationwide and will spend the next seven to 10 days
raising money to set up a laboratory in the city to conduct testing.

Krieger said he will not go any further with his research project, however,
until his challenge is heard in Court of Queen's Bench in April. That
challenge is whether he has the legal right to cultivate, manufacture and
distribute cannabis for medical purposes.