CAMPAIGN GONE TO POT

MEDICINAL MARIJUANA: Pauper Party candidate Mike Spottiswood is caught
in a dubious legal bind

With only a few days to go until the election, you'd think most
candidates would be knocking on doors and drumming up votes.

But on this recent weekday morning, Mike Spottiswood finds himself in
court, facing a situation that seems both cruel and
unreasonable.

The Pauper Party candidate for London North Centre is a sick man
coping with an array of medical issues, including osteoarthritis,
fibromyalgia, hepatitis C, irritable bowel syndrome, knee problems and
serious spinal damage.

"I'm having a bad day," says Spottiswood, as he clutches his cane and
sits stiffly in a courthouse waiting area. "I just don't feel good."

Unfortunately, Spottiswood is battling more than just poor health;
since January, the 53-year-old Londoner has been mired in a seemingly
endless -- and possibly pointless -- journey through a legal labyrinth.

"Every day is a battle for me," he says. "I don't understand why I'm
still in the court system."

Spottiswood is one of thousands of Canadians who've received approval
from a doctor to consume cannabis to ease pain, nausea or other
symptoms associated with an illness under the provisions of Health
Canada's Marijuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) program.

But Spottiswood finds himself entangled in the justice system because
back in January, he was busted by police before being granted his MMAR
licence. And the reason he didn't have his licence at that time, says
Spottiswood, is that despite 10 years of effort, he couldn't find
himself a local family doctor.

In May, Spottiswood finally found a doctor in the Owen Sound area who
approved his medical use of marijuana. But that was five months after
police had charged Spottiswood with possession and production of a
controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking.

"I've never sold a grain in my life," he says. "It's strictly
medicinal."

Since then, Spottiswood has found himself in court at least 10 times,
to no avail. On this Friday morning, his case is put over until the
following week, when once again he'll seek a trial date.

Spottiswood says Canada's pot system is broken. And he's not the only
one who believes that; last week, Health Canada held two days of
closed-door meetings about its medical marijuana program that has been
widely criticized.

In one recent case, Superior Court Judge Donald Taliano quashed
production and possession charges against St. Catharines native
Matthew Mernagh and, in a written judgment, concluded that Canada's
medical marijuana program fails to give legal access to sick people
who need pot, mainly because most family doctors refuse to endorse the
use of the drug.

Spottiswood admits he was using pot before he was granted a licence,
but says he had no options.

"I did what I did because my health was sliding so bad," he says. "I
felt I didn't have a choice."

Ironically, the courts have shown some pity.

During an appearance before Superior Court of Justice Gregory Pockele
on Aug. 17, Pockele ruled he couldn't quash the charges against
Spottiswood because he wasn't the trial judge. But according to a
court transcript, Pockele noted he has a distant family member
licensed to grow cannabis and stated, "I am very sympathetic to the
argument you make."

But Spottiswood, whose health continues to deteriorate, needs more
than sympathy.

"I just wish the government would have a proper program to help people
who are truly ill, like me," he says. "I just feel it's wrong."