LONDONER COULD WIN RIGHT TO USE POT

Terry Parker may soon have someone to toke with legally. Multiple sclerosis
sufferer Lynn Harichy, 36, is headed to court in London in April to make
the same case as Parker.

Her lawyer, Osgoode Hall law professor Alan Young, is optimistic they'll
win the case, making Harichy the second person legally allowed to smoke
marijuana for medicinal purposes in Canada.

"I'll go forward with the multiple sclerosis case," Young said, "and we'll
probably win because of Terry's case" and the evidence of the helpful
effects of marijuana on MS spasms and pain.

"This is the next serious claim being made." But before he wins, the lawyer
will have to prove the debilitating and painful effects of Harichy's
illness, that conventional treatments haven't helped and that pot is an
effective remedy.

Harichy will be defending charges of possession at the threeday trial
which begins April 27.

Crown attorneys have already tried to drop the charges, but Harichy says
she won't let them.

"I want the laws changed and I'm not just going to walk away," said Harichy.

Meanwhile, Parker's lawyer Aaron Harnett said Crown attorneys are looking
into tagteaming their appeal with another case from August.

Hemp crusader Chris Clay, a former Londoner now in Vancouver, was found
guilty of possessing and selling marijuana in August. His appeal and
Parker's may go at the same time at the Ontario Court of Appeal, said Harnett.

"They sometimes hear appeals at the same time if they involve the same
issues," Harnett added.