HEALING DOPE

Calgary's Sick And Dying Find Relief In Marijuana

The floor in Grant Krieger's tiny bedroom is littered with remnants
of his marijuana grow operation.

Dead pot leaves and splinters of wood are all that remain after a
break-in artist ripped the plants right out of the woodwork.

"It just makes me sick when I come in here," sighs Krieger, as he
surveys the damage left after being robbed of $8,000 worth of weed.

"They left us with absolutely nothing," he says, sifting through
marijuana leaves with his foot.

"You know they even stole a dying lady's donation bag of pot? It had
her name on it -- it was marked 'donation' on it and they took it."

The 10 marijuana plants were to be used to treat his clients, members
of the Universal Compassion Club he founded in January.

It's a guild of sick, and in some cases, dying individuals, in and
around the city who have turned to the illicit drug to ease their pain.

"I have people who need this medicine and I just don't have the supply
for them anymore," says Krieger.

Let's be absolutely clear, what the 44-year-old is doing is currently
illegal.

But it may not be for much longer.

Health Minister Allan Rock has promised to reveal details of his
government's plan to legalize pot before the House of Commons breaks
for the summer on Wednesday.

And despite opposition from physicians, fellow parliamentarians and
ordinary Canadians, Rock has also promised clinical trials on the
medicinal benefits of the psychoactive drug later this month.

Krieger, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1978, has been selling
marijuana to the ill for five years now, after seeing how it relieved
his own pain.

He first turned to pot in 1994, when a frustrating 16 years of
unsuccessful treatment for his MS led Krieger to a suicide attempt.

Not being able to walk or control his own bowel movements pushed him
over the top one night.

While his wife, now separated from Krieger, busied herself in another
room, Krieger popped 40 Demerol and 30 sleeping pills.

"They wouldn't give me anything after that (for pain)."

He had heard marijuana worked wonders on sore muscles and joints, and
after recovering from his attempted suicide, decided to try it since
nothing else was working for him.

Ever since, Krieger has been crusading to legalize marijuana as
medicine.

His affliction prevents him from any sort of vigorous activity,
restricting him to the confines of his home where he spends most of
the day on the phone with clients, doctors and media, fighting his
battle.

He founded UCC in Calgary back in January.

The club is now 50-strong, but as Krieger contends, there are no
recreational users in the group.

A would-be client must sign a release of medical information, or a
letter must be obtained from their licensed physician outlining the
patient's illness and their request to use marijuana as an alternative
medicine.

Kreieger then verifies the information with the doctor.

All of this to weed out the social smokers Krieger blames for
"stimulating the problem of high prices."

In some cases, UCC will supply marijuana to the ill at no cost if they
cannot afford it.

"First and foremost on my mind is the quality of life (of patients),"
he says.

The break-in is a major setback for Krieger and UCC members -- it will
cost him $3,000 to replace the 1 lb. of dried marijuana stolen from
his house plus $5,000 in near-ready buds.

But Krieger, a deeply spiritual man, will not let this dissuade him
from his cause.

"I will continue on -- I feel I'm being lead by God to help people who
are ill," he says.

He will grow more marijuana, but will do so in the homes of willing
clients.

He has already set up operations elsewhere with help from veteran
growers who will take care of the plants until they can be harvested.

Half the bounty will go to UCC to be sold through the club at
less-than street value prices, and the homeowner will keep the remainder.

All the while under the microscope of Calgary's drug squad, who are
now watching Krieger closely.

Staff Sgt. Paul Laventure of Calgary's drug unit says an investigation
is currently underway, with two officers on Krieger's tail in light of
the publicity surrounding the break-in.

Laventure says although he is sympathetic towards Krieger and others
like him who suffer from an affliction, selling weed is still illegal
and Krieger will be busted if he continues to break the law.

"We'll treat him exactly as we would anyone else who is caught
(breaking the law)," says Laventure.

"If we gain evidence (he is trafficking), we will charge him under the
Controlled Drug and Substances Act."

"Let them, let them come look, I don't care," says a defiant
Krieger.

"I am fighting for my right and for the rights of every citizen of
this country.

"I want alternative medicine -- the freedom to choose how to nurse
yourself back to a better quality of life.

"If that means going to jail, so be it."

Indeed, Krieger is no stranger to the courts.

In June 1997, he gained notoriety after attempting to sell a bag of
pot to a friend on the courthouse steps in downtown Calgary.

In May 1996, he was arrested for similar drug charges in
Saskatchewan.

Both instances netted him fines totalling $2,050 and he's still on
probation.

But the law is not his only opposition.

John Booth, a spokesman for the Betty Ford Center, says marijuana
might very well have medicinal value, but in the wrong hands it could
lead to use of other, more detrimental drugs.

"Generally, we (at the Betty Ford Clinic) feel marijuana is a gateway
drug," he says.

"Marijuana could very well (hold medicinal value), but it's a gateway
drug to those who have an addictive personality."

Dr. Bill Campbell, working out of the addiction center at Foothills
Hospital, doesn't buy into the gateway theory, but contends more
research is needed before he could prescribe marijuana.

"Show me that it works -- I suspect there is something to it," he
says, referring to marijuana's al-leged medicinal qualities.

"But if you're going to argue the issue (of legalization) -- we need
to test it according to standards we have set for what constitutes for
medical purposes," Campbell says.

Despite it's status as the most widely used illegal drug today, most
continue to view it as a dangerous drug, worse than alcohol and
tobacco, likey to lead to heroin.

Faron Swanson, 40, a long-time friend of Krieger's and member of UCC,
says he's in too much pain to wait for doctors and politicians to test
marijuana.

Bound in a wheelchair on his acreage two hours from Saskatoon, Swanson
smokes marijuana to relieve his pain due to MS.

"We didn't need that," he says, referring to Krieger's robbery in a
slow, forced voice.

"He was just trying to get ahead," says Swanson.

"He was just trying to help us."

Swanson relies on Krieger, who visits Saskatoon frequently, for
marijuana.

"They have to leave Grant alone or I can't get my medicine," says
Swanson.

He smokes eight pipe-fulls of marijuana a day to ease the constant
pain in his muscles.

According to him, weed is the only thing keeping him
alive.

"If I didn't have it, I think I would be dead right
now.

"You don't know how it feels to be here -- to sit in this wheelchair
and have no life when you used to have one."

Swanson was a singer before MS put him in the wheelchair.

"I can't walk, I can't work, do you know how depressing that gets?" he
says, a slight pang in his voice quite evident.

"No wonder Grant tried to commit suicide."

But no matter what anybody says, Krieger simply will not stop selling
his 'medicine.'

He feels he is on a mission, laid out for him by God to help those in
need.

"It's something I'm driven to do -- I just have to do
it."

Krieger notes that if anyone wishes to make a donation, they may do so
by forwarding monies to any of the hemp shops around town.

Or donations can also be sent directly to Universal Compassion Club's
mailing address at 2, 3012 17 Ave. S.E. Suite 509 Calgary, T2A 0P9.

USE OF SELECTED LEGAL AND ILLEGAL DRUGS IN CANADA (% IN 1994)

tranquilizers diet pills/stimulants anti-depressants Canada
4.3 0.9 3.0

Atlantic 4.4 1.1 3.3
Quebec 6.8 0.7 3.7
Ontario 3.3 0.7 1.8
Prairies 3.2 1.2 3.7
British Columbia 4.0 0.9 3.9

codeine/demerol/morphine sleeping pills marijuana/hash
LSD/speed/heroin Canada 13.1 4.5
7.4 1.1 Atlantic 13.3 4.3
6.3 0.9 Quebec 6.8 5.8 8.6
1.6 Ontario 12.6 3.5 5.1 0.5
Prairies 17.5 4.5 8.2 1.1
British Columbia 21.2 5.3 11.6 1.6