POT STORE OPENS BRANCH IN MONTREAL

MONTREAL -- A club selling marijuana for medicinal use opened Friday
despite police warnings that they'll enforce Canada's drug laws. Police
said they will investigate the Compassion Club but it will be up to a Crown
prosecutor to decide if charges are laid.

Organizers wouldn't say if there was pot on the premises or if they had
sold any to AIDS sufferers or those with chronic pain or illnesses. A
similar club exists in Toronto and Vancouver. Cmdr. Andre Lapointe said
police feel compassion for people who need marijuana for health reasons,
even though it's illegal.

"Our mandate is to apply the law in the most humanitarian way possible,"
Lapointe said in an interview.

Louise-Caroline Bergeron, the club's director, said she regretted the
police position but understood it.

"They have given me a clear statement of their position, which is that they
are not going to be tolerating this in Montreal," Bergeron said.

There was no official police presence at a news conference to open the
facility.

Potential clients must provide a doctor's note, which will be verified to
get some marijuana.

If there is any doubt about a patient's need or how the marijuana is being
used, membership will be revoked.

"We're hoping to help people in great pain feel better," Bergeron said.

She wouldn't say who will supply the marijuana. Bergeron said it would
purer than what's sold on the street but wouldn't be enough to get high. It
will be sold below street price, about $10 per gram.

Mario Champagne, who injured his back in a construction accident, supports
the club. He didn't like the side effects of some of his medication.

"There were days I wasn't even there," Champagne said. "I was always buzzed."

Many Canadians with health problems have been asking for the legal right to
use marijuana ever since James Wakeford, a Toronto man with AIDS, won an
exemption from the law to use and grow marijuana.