MEDICAL POT CRUSADER FOUND GUILTY

Sold Marijuana To Ill Clients Across Canada

A medical marijuana crusader says he will likely die in prison now
that a Winnipeg jury has found him guilty of trafficking pot to
several clients across Canada.

Grant Krieger said Wednesday's verdict shows how little the country
cares for the sick and dying and represents a blown opportunity to
make a statement.

"I'm ashamed to be a Canadian," the Calgary resident told the Free
Press outside court just moments after learning his fate.

Krieger, who runs the Grant W. Krieger Cannabis Research Foundation of
Canada, has been battling progressive multiple sclerosis since 1978
and says his only relief comes from smoking and ingesting cannabis.

"They had a chance to change the law. It's a victimless crime they've
convicted me of. Now they're gonna kill me when they put me in jail,"
he said.

Krieger, 53, admitted he broke the law but was seeking to be acquitted
on sympathetic grounds.

Krieger was stopped by RCMP in Headlingley in 2004.

Jurors took only about 30 minutes to reach their unanimous guilty
verdict. Krieger is expected to be sentenced early in 2009 and remains
free on bail.

"I know I didn't have a legal ground to stand on, but our society is
not supposed to discriminate. They're penalizing the sick," said Krieger.

Krieger testified in his own defence earlier this week how his life
was in a rapid downward spiral and even included a suicide attempt
prior to discovering the magic of marijuana.

"Without it, I wouldn't be standing here before you today," he told
jurors.

Krieger said his many customers are in a similar position -- they are
suffering from chronic pain, disease and even terminal illness and
have come to him looking to improve their quality of life. He admits
selling pot to dozens of people across Canada -- including several in
Manitoba -- but insisted there is a major difference between him and
your garden-variety drug dealer.

The Crown's case against Krieger was simple -- although he had
clearance to possess pot for his own health reasons, he didn't have
permission from the federal government to sell marijuana for medicinal
reasons. There is a program in place to distribute the drug to those
who get special clearance from doctors, but Krieger said the whole
system is flawed. He said most doctors are afraid to make such a
declaration. And Krieger ripped the feds for the quality of their
drugs, which are produced in Flin Flon.

"It's grown in a dirty mine shaft," Krieger told jurors. He said the
drug is overly processed and diluted by the time it gets to those in
need.

He denies profiting from his alleged crime, saying he's "in the red"
and frequently gives away drugs to those on fixed incomes who
desperately need it.

Krieger's trial began Monday with only one witness being called to
testify -- Krieger himself. He is currently appealing another drug
conviction from Alberta that netted him a four-month jail sentence.
That hearing is set for next week.