WOMAN WAITS FOR SUPPORT FOR MEDICINAL POT

LONDON, Ont. (CP) ‚ A place where medicinal users of marijuana can go get
their drugs should be open within a few weeks. Lynn Harichy, 36, who plans
to open the buyers' club for pot, says she's just holding off a little
while in order to line up some more public support.

"I just want to make sure these patients, when they come in ‚ I don't want
them to get busted."

Harichy, who smokes up to five marijuana joints a day to subdue the pain
from her multiple sclerosis, knows what that's like. The mother of two is
scheduled to appear in court April 27 on a pot possession charge.

Harichy wrote to every MP last year looking for support and recently sent
messages to London Mayor Dianne Haskett and to all members of city council.
Some MPs wrote back in support, Harichy said, but she hasn't heard from
city council members.

The mayor said she'll discuss the matter later this week with the city's
police chief.

Marijuana possession and trafficking are against the law, but an Ontario
court recently ruled the government couldn't deny medicinal marijuana to a
Toronto epileptic. The case is now under appeal.

"It's a narcotic with a lot of deleterious health effects and I'd be
surprised if it were supported by the legal system," said Haskett.

The Toronto-based Medical Marijuana Resource Centre announced plans last
month to open a non-profit "marijuana club" there, affiliated with clubs to
open in London and other southern Ontario centres.

Members would have to provide a doctors' letters confirming they have
serious or terminal diseases including AIDS and cancer in order to be
allowed to buy marijuana in small amounts from the club.

Calgary Herald New Media 1998 C