LEAGUE HALL CANCELS POT CASE FUND-RAISER

Community league officials confirm they took city police advice and
cancelled a hall booking for a fund-raising event for a couple facing
marijuana-growing charges.

Ken Kirk, 37, was convicted of trafficking in marijuana in December
and sentenced to five months in jail. He's now in the Fort
Saskatchewan Correctional Centre and will be released March 19.

He claims he has used small quantities of marijuana for several years
to control his epileptic seizures and other medical conditions,
including bipolar disorder and back pain.

He asked for marijuana to control those conditions in jail and was
turned down.

Kirk and his girlfriend, Amy von Stackelberg, are also charged with
cultivating marijuana and will be tried April 6-8.

To raise money to pay for expert witnesses at their trial, von
Stackelberg booked Eastwood Community League hall for a rock concert
on March 20. A $300 deposit was paid and flyers were circulated.

"It's not like we're big drug dealers and we're doing it so we can get
a bunch of potheads down there. We're not rich people and it takes
money to get justice in this country," said Kirk.

Trudy Skoreiko, who does bookings, confirmed she cancelled the booking
Tuesday on the advice of city police officers.

The flyers described the event as a "spring equinox medical hemp
fund-raiser." Sponsors include the "grassroots holy grove of the
church of reformed Druids," of which Kirk is the "pope."