BC SUPREME COURT RULES IN FAVOUR OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

[photo]

A relieved Mathew Beren (right) looks on as lawyer Kirk Tousaw and
Vancouver Island Compassion Society founder Philippe Lucas brief media on
his precedent-setting trial.

Compassion clubs and other medical marijuana distributors should have
restrictions on them lifted, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled on Monday.

To the delight of a packed courtroom in Vancouver, Justice Marvyn
Koenigsberg said federal regulations that limit people's access to
medicinal cannabis are "constitutionally invalid" and gave the government
a year to amend the rules.

The current rules under the federal medical marijuana program limit a
supplier from providing marijuana to more than one patient and restrict
growers from sharing a common space.

Koenigsberg made the ruling during the trial of Vancouver Island resident
Mathew Beren.

In 2004, RCMP raided a grow-op Beren ran in Sooke and charged him with
trafficking.

Koenigsberg found Beren guilty on two drug-related charges Monday but
granted him an absolute discharge because he grew marijuana exclusively
for the Vancouver Island Compassion Society.

The discharge means Beren may continue to grow marijuana for the VICS, a
non-profit that distributes marijuana to 850 patients.

"In my view, it would be contrary to public interest for Mr. Beren to have
criminal record," Koenigsberg told the courtroom. "If ever there was a
case where an absolute discharge is appropriate, it's this one."

Outside the courthouse, Beren told media he was overjoyed by the decision.

"We're talking 14 years to life for what? For helping people?" he said. "I
want to make sure people that need medical marijuana can get it without
the dangers of the street. It's an awesome day."