ARREST CALLED HARASSMENT

Pot Crusader Questions Why Police Charged Husband

A Londoner who has waged a battle to legalize marijuana for medical
use is questioning her husband being charged by police just as the
couple's business was scheduled to close for good.

"I feel it's harassment," Lynn Harichy said yesterday.

Mike Harichy, 47, was arrested after police executed a search warrant
last Friday at Boston Herb, site of the Cannabis Compassion Centre
operated by Harichy and owned by his wife.

The pot outlet opened in 1998 to provide marijuana to members with
specific medical conditions, such as AIDS, cancer and multiple
sclerosis, or people with a letter from their doctor endorsing
marijuana use for other ailments.

Mike Harichy is to appear in a London court today on charges of drug
possession and trafficking.

He said yesterday he agrees with his wife but wouldn't comment
further.

London police Insp. Dave Lucio denied there was any harassment, saying
police weren't aware the business was about to close when charges were
laid against Harichy.

The centre was to close for good after a final delivery of marijuana
to members last Friday, Lynn Harichy has said.

But police, armed with a search warrant, arrived at the centre that
afternoon at 199 Wellington St. before the deliveries were made.

Lynn Harichy said it was public knowledge the couple intended to close
the business, and if police had waited until after Friday's delivery
they wouldn't have been able to charge her husband.

"Who did they tell?'' Lucio asked.

Harichy, 37, said she told a London radio station.

The London woman has multiple sclerosis and says she smokes marijuana
to deal with chronic pain and nausea. She said the decision to close
the centre was made after the federal government announced last week
it would begin planning for clinical trials of the medical use of
marijuana.