'COMPASSION CLUB' PROVIDING MEDICINAL MARIJUANA SHUT DOWN BY POLICE

Advocates for looser pot restrictions are pointing to the raid as a
sign of the ineffectiveness of the federal medicinal marijuana program

When the burning becomes too much, Josh Dvorkin pulls out his
lighter, lights up a joint and fires back.

Mr. Dvorkin, who injured his spinal cord when he fell during an
epileptic seizure five years ago, has since relied on medical
marijuana to relieve neuropathic pain. To get the drug, he takes his
Health Canada licence to buy five grams of pot a day and rides his
electric wheelchair to CALM - which stands for Cannabis As Living
Medicine - a compassion club that operates behind an unmarked
storefront on Queen Street East.

"Agitated" would be a more apt name for the club since Toronto police
raided it last Wednesday. Undercover officers, armed with a warrant
and backed up by uniformed officers, arrested nine workers and seized
16.5 kilograms of marijuana, 1.9 kg of hashish, 200 grams of hash
oil, a quantity of cash and the club's computers.

The raid, which came 14 years into CALM's otherwise hassle-free
existence, has left a trail of questions in its wake. The most
immediate one for Mr. Dvorkin and nearly 2,000 other members is,
where will I get my weed?

"I don't know," Mr. Dvorkin said Sunday at the club. It remains
closed indefinitely, but he was there with owner Neev Tapiero, club
lawyer Ron Marzel and others to plot next steps, including a protest
outside police headquarters next Sunday. "It just makes every day
that much more unliveable," the 34-year-old Ryerson University
journalism student added.

Detective Jim Brons, the investigating officer who led the raid, was
off duty and unavailable to explain the raid. A police source,
however, said "I don't think it's done arbitrarily." Mr. Tapiero said
officers told him only that they were "acting on complaints."

Advocates for looser pot restrictions are pointing to the raid -
caught on several of the club's security cameras and since posted on
YouTube - as a sign of the ineffectiveness of the federal medicinal
marijuana program.

"The simple solution to all this is for Health Canada to licence
large-scale medical cannabis production facilities," said Mr. Marzel,
one of a handful of lawyers who specialize in challenging the
country's marijuana laws.

As it stands, licensed patients can buy their pot from Health Canada,
grow small quantities for themselves or designate someone to grow it
for them. However, many argue the regulations make it overly
difficult to obtain the drug in sufficient quality and quantity, and
instead buy from compassion clubs such as CALM.

Various courts have upheld patients' complaints about the Health
Canada program, and other club operators have seen similar charges -
namely, possession for the purpose of trafficking - dropped in previous cases.