POT-SHOP OPERATOR PLEADS GUILTY TO TRAFFICKING

Marijuana Activist's Husband Fined $300, Put On 18 Months' Probation

The husband of medical marijuana crusader Lynn Harichy pleaded guilty
yesterday to trafficking pot through a now-closed Cannabis Compassion Centre
they ran in London.

Mike Harichy, 47, was fined $300 and placed on 18 months' probation on terms
that would allow him to use pot medicinally -- if he obtains an exemption
from the federal government available under Section 56 of the Criminal Code.

That permission would be the only exception to a condition of probation that
forbids Harichy from having or using any drug not prescribed by a doctor.

Ontario Court Justice John Menzies was told Harichy suffers chronic pain
because of an incurable carpal tunnel condition and has also sought a
federal disability pension.

Lynn Harichy, 37, became a national figure in the campaign for medicinal use
of pot two years ago when she was arrested trying to light up a joint on the
steps of police headquarters as an act of civil disobedience.

Harichy suffers from degenerative multiple sclerosis and says smoking
marijuana eases symptoms such as shaking and nausea.

Her symbolic act led to a possession charge that was stayed last week on
compassionate grounds.

Mike Harichy pleaded to one of three trafficking charges laid last March
after an undercover investigation of the couple's compassion centre at 199
Wellington St.

The centre opened in July 1998 to provide pot to members with specific
medical conditions such as AIDS, cancer and MS or people with a doctor's
letter endorsing marijuana use for other ailments.

Federal prosecutor Bill Buchner said an undercover officer entered the store
Feb. 16 and bought a glass pipe for $9.99.

Harichy also gave the officer directions to a doctor who would examine his
bad knee and perhaps write a letter.

As he was leaving, the officer was asked if he wanted "a little right now."

Buchner said he bought two grams in a plastic baggie for $30.

Three days later the undercover officer bought another $30 worth of pot from
Harichy at the store.

They discussed having future purchases delivered to a London motel, Buchner
said.

He told Menzies that on the first visit there was only a cursory discussion
of the medical uses of pot and no attempt to get a medical letter before
selling it. There was no medical discussion on the second visit.

Buchner said police returned March 5 with a warrant and seized 32 grams of
dried marijuana worth $486.

The prosecutor presented the joint Crown-defence sentence recommendation
accepted by Menzies, saying the amounts of pot were small and the plea saved
the cost of a trial.

Illness and the medical marijuana campaign had left the Harichys in
financial straits, Buchner said.