THE WRONG KIND OF DRUG BUST

Police Didn't Have Warrant, Or Consent Of Cerebral Palsy Sufferer To
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Ottawa Police shot a man Wednesday during a drug bust, which is never
the way it should go down.

Tuesday wasn't a whole lot better. This was the day they busted a man
in a wheelchair who can't even talk or raise a hand in protest.

Berny Belair, 43, has cerebral palsy, which has left him in a
motorized wheelchair, hands all contorted, unable to even feed himself.

He communicates with an aluminum wand attached to a halo around his
head, which he uses to point at letters on a keyboard attached to his
wheelchair.

It is painstakingly slow. Even a short sentence can take an entire minute.

Still, in an e-mail that arrived Friday, he did his best to recount
Tuesday's events, which began just before lunch and ended about five
hours later.

"Within 10 minutes there was 11 cops in my house and locked me out,"
he wrote, grammar be damned. "When I'm locked out the cops opened everything."

You may know Belair. He is something of a fixture downtown,
particularly in the months leading up to Christmas.

Since 1994, often on deadly cold days, he parks out in a highrise
hollow on Bank Street near the corner of Albert Street, the
self-described "card guy."

He sells greeting cards that he fashions on his home computer. On a
good day, he might bring in $30.

In the last few months, Belair discovered his health improves with
the use of marijuana. It helps with his appetite and digestion, and
it also eases his sleep.

Even at that, he is so disabled he can neither hold the joint, light
it nor inhale normally, depending on a buddy to help him.

He says he applied, with the help of his physician, for a permit to
grow and use marijuana for medical purposes.

The permit, he says, is on the way. While he waited, a neighbour
built a small grow area in his basement. A pair of high-wattage
lights and a timer were installed and, soon, 25 plants were underway.

On Tuesday, Belair said a police officer arrived at his door, in a
housing co-op in the southeast end, and wanted to know if he was OK.
He indicated he was fine, he said.

Not long after, says Belair, a number of officers arrived -- some in
uniform, some not -- and demanded entry into the house in the Hunt
Club-Hawthorne area. He puts the number at somewhere between seven and 11.

"They demanded I open the door," he wrote. "Once they were in, I
denied them entry to my basement. I was in front of the basement door
and the police got very aggressive and ordered me to move away from
the door and the police man just walked right down stairs."

Belair is upset that, over the next several hours, the police not
only took the plants, but arranged to have the lights and timer
removed. He says he's out more than $1,000 in equipment.

Neighbour Brian Williams, 36, makes no attempt to hide his role in the matter.

A neighbour for about 10 years, he visits Belair every day, feeding
him as many as five times a week. Berny, he says, is like family.

Williams says he built the closet-sized grow area because he knew
Belair couldn't manage it on his own. He also watered the plants
because his friend in the electric chair cannot get down stairs.

Belair says he did not consent to the search and says the officers
did not have a warrant.

"It's my right as an independent disabled person to grow and use
marijuana to make my life a little easier."

The police have a different version. They do admit no search warrant
was obtained, but it's not clear to what degree Belair consented to the search.

They suggested 25 plants is far in excess of what Belair would need
for his medical purposes, even if he had a valid permit. Nor can they
turn a blind eye to the operation, police say, simply because a
permit may be on the way.

A spokesman said discretion was used in the matter, leading to a
decision to not lay criminal charges.

At this point, Belair would like his equipment back so he can
re-establish a small grow-operation when he actually gets his permit.

In an interview in his unit, he was asked what he'd like the police to do now.

"Cops stop treating me like a moron," he tapped out.

Indeed. Belair is disabled, which is not to be confused with stupid.
Would he willingly agree to have police search a room he knew
contained illegal plants?