POT SMOKER CAN'T GET A HEARING

The case of pot crusader Lynn Harichy continues to drift along while the
Ontario Court of Appeal ponders a long-awaited decision in another
marijuana-as-medicine case.

Harichy, a 37-year-old Londoner with multiple sclerosis, was charged with
possession Sept. 15, 1997, when she lit up a joint on the steps of police
headquarters to protest marijuana laws.

She says she needs the illegal weed to ease the pain and spasms of her
illness.

Harichy appeared in London court yesterday for a third attempt to set a
trial date, only to be remanded out of custody until Feb. 10.

The probable tactic then will be to set a trial date several months down the
road in hopes that the appeal court will have finally released its decision.

That case involves a Crown appeal of a Toronto man's victory in court after
his pot-growing operation was busted in 1996.

In a precedent-setting Charter of Rights and Freedoms case, a Toronto judge
ruled Terry Parker had a medical need to smoke marijuana as treatment for
epilepsy.

The judge stayed charges of cultivating and possession against Parker, 42,
but convicted him of a trafficking charge.

He was sentenced to time served and put on probation for a year.