POT-FOR-HEALTH CLAIM STILL DRAWS JAIL TERM

A chronic pot smoker was jailed for five months yesterday despite claims he
needs his daily tokes for health reasons.

A provincial court judge told Kenneth Kirk that he was compelled by law to
send the 37-year-old marijuana advocate to jail and that fining him would
be inappropriate.

"I don't make the laws," Judge David Tilley told Kirk as he delivered the
sentence.

"My sole purpose is to interpret them. The best I can do in light of your
medical condition is to impose a sentence I consider the rock bottom of the
range," he said.

Kirk suffers from epilepsy and other ailments including bipolar disorder
and chronic inflammation of his lower back.

Crown prosecutor Larry Ackerl had asked that Kirk - the self-proclaimed
pope of the Church of Reform Druids - be jailed between nine months and a
year for the drug offences.

He pleaded guilty earlier to two counts each of trafficking and possession
of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

One of the sets of charges was laid while Kirk was out on bail for the
first offence in December 1996.

Tilley said Kirk's actions were an aggravating factor that had to be taken
into account along with the fact that some of the drug sales involved
minors.

"It would be immoral and against community standards to try to change the
laws so minors can buy hemp," he remarked.

But he said he wouldn't hold it against Kirk that he was a staunch advocate
for the legalization of marijuana and that he wanted to make a political
statement with his actions.

Kirk's lawyer Mike Furman said his client wasn't trying to profit from
selling drugs and that he was doing it only to support his 22-year-old
habit.

He asked Tilley to consider an intermittent sentence that would allow Kirk
to serve the time on weekends to minimize any potential injury that could
befall him in jail.

Tilley rejected the proposal but asked that Kirk's medical condition be
made known to corrections officials.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson