'COMPASSION CLUB' APPLAUDS COURT POT RULING

A group selling marijuana for medicinal use is pleased

An organization that sells marijuana for medicinal use applauded Tuesday the
decision of a Vancouver provincial court judge to give a man with glaucoma a
conditional discharge for trafficking marijuana.

"I think it's fabulous," said Eren Coyle, a director and staff member of the
Compasson Club, which sells small amounts of marijuana for medicinal use to
its 500 members for about $8 a gram.

"I think it means a lot for people growing their own medicine," she said. "I
think it gives them encouragement that they will not be persecuted."

Coyle said she hopes the decision by Judge Jane Godfrey will lead to the
decriminalization of marijuana for medicinal use in Canada.

Godfrey granted the conditional discharge to Stanley Czolowski, 44, of
Vancouver, who was caught growing mairjuana worth up to $50,000 in his
Vancouver home.

The judgement appears to be the first ruling of its kind in Canada.

An Ontario judge ruled last December that Canada's drug laws unfairly denied
the right of a Toronto man with epilepsy to use marijuana as an effective
medication for his condition.

But the ruling in Czolowski's case was believed to be the first involving a
trafficking charge and a substantial amount of the drug.

The judge said in her ruling that she had "extreme sympathy" for Czolowski's
personal situation. He suffers from pressure in the eyeball, deteriorating
vision, and fatigue from drugs other than marijuana, which he said helps him
combat the crushing pain and nausea.

The federal Crown, which prosecutes drug cases in Canada, declined to
comment when asked if the Crown planned to appeal the Czolowski case.

B.C. Attorney-General Ujjal Dosanjh also declined to comment on the case,
said Curtis Albertson, senior issues management officer with the
attorney-general's ministry.

Vancouver police, who did not return phone calls about the matter Tuesday,
raided Czolowski's rented Marpole-area home in August last year and seized
more than 60 plants.

He was selling the drug to the Compassion Club and using some for his own
medicinal purposes.

He was charged with possession of three kilograms of marijuana for the
purpose of trafficking. He admitted he was guilty but argued marijuana was
the only drug without side-effects he can take to combat his condition.

The conditions imposed on Czolowski are that he keep the peace and be of
good behavior for one year. If he meets those conditions, the freelance
photographer will have no criminal record.

Checked-by: Don Beck