POT HARVEST NOT FOR SALE, COURT TOLD

An admitted regular marijuana user, charged with cultivating and
trafficking the narcotic, told the court Wednesday he has no desire to
sell any of his harvest.

Errol Arne Dammert, 57, said that despite the fact he is living on a
disability pension that leaves him with just $121 a month after rent, he
has not branched out into selling the marijuana he grows.

And he said he grows his own marijuana because he does not trust the pot
available on the street. "I don't like to buy it on the street because I
don't know what kind of chemicals are used in the process of growing it,"
he said.

Testifying in his own defence, Dammert said he consumes marijuana for the
pain he suffers as a result of a motorcycle accident in 1984. He said he
consumes the narcotic by smoking it, baking it into cakes, making tea or
sprinkling it over pasta.

A police officer testified Tuesday that Dammert told him he sells marijuana
to supplement his meager income.

Dammert denied the statement, which was ruled inadmissible by the court
when the defence argued Dammert was not adequately read his rights when
pulled over in a check stop June 6, 1998.

Defence counsel Ian McAndrews pointed out that while Dammert was told he
had a right to speak to a lawyer, he was not given a phone number or access
to a phone.

Police seized 168 plants in the truck Dammert was driving and charged him
with possession for the purpose of trafficking. He claims the plants were
for personal use.

The court heard evidence Wednesday of an earlier charge when more than 50
plants were seized at Dammert's Osoyoos-area house in June, 1997. He faces
charges of possession and cultivation of marijuana, as well as weapons
charges in relation to a .22-calibre rifle and a sawed off shotgun
allegedly found in his home when police executed a search warrant.

Dammert testified he needed several plants because the success rate for
outdoor growing is extremely variable.

The trial is expected to wrap up today, but final arguments will be heard
at a future date due to a defence application for a constitutional exemption.

Dammert is seeking the exemption to allow him to legally grow and consume
marijuana for medicinal reasons.

Twenty people in Canada have been granted such an exemption.