POT GROWER FEARS COP'S WARNING

A Beachburg-area man who got permission from Health Canada to smoke dope
last week is worried police may charge his wife if she waters his marijuana
plants while he's away.

Robert Brown is leaving for a vacation to see family in British Columbia
and Saskatchewan tomorrow and he's worried the constitutional exemption he
received to smoke pot for medical use doesn't go far enough to protect his
wife from possible charges.

NOT PROTECTED

Brown, 43, who suffers from hepatitis C, received a call over the weekend
from an OPP officer who originally charged him with possession, cultivation
and intent to traffic marijuana in December 1998. The officer warned him
the exemption doesn't extend to his wife Linda.

"There's a potential that she could be charged with cultivation if she even
puts water on my plants," Brown said.

Brown is westward bound thanks to a supporter who bought him a plane ticket
during his two-day protest on Parliament Hill last week.

PREDICAMENT

Brown's lawyer Rick Reimer said there's no guarantee Linda Brown would be
safe from prosecution but he planned to alert Health Canada, local police
and the Crown attorney about the predicament.

Tim McCann, the federal Crown attorney, is now re-examining the case
against Brown in light of the constitutional exemption.

A member of the OPP's drug enforcement section said he couldn't see police
spending a lot of time to probe the moisture of Brown's pot plants while
he's away. "I wouldn't suggest a whole lot of manpower and investigative
resources to look into this," said Det.-Sgt. Paul Henry.