POT ACTIVIST NOT GIVING UP

A Supreme Court justice in Chilliwack might have dismissed medical
marijuana activist Brian Carlisle's application to get back his
equipment this week but he still considers the court appearance a
victory of sorts.

On Tuesday Justice William Grist told Carlisle he needed to make his
application in a different forum, specifically a lower court.

"It's a matter for the provincial court judge's discretion," the
judge told Carlisle. "You need to start your application anew."

What Carlisle got for his efforts was some direction on how to wade
through the courts to get back his equipment.

Carlisle used to live in Chilliwack but more recently has been living
in the Abbotsford area. He has a licence for medicinal marijuana.

His application began after Abbotsford police seized his equipment in
early 2005. He was also applying to the court for a colleague, John Frist.

On Jan. 6, Abbotsford police busted Frist who was taking a supply of
medicinal marijuana from fellow activist Tim Felger's to Carlisle.
Carlisle had a right to grow the marijuana at the site but ended up
losing his growing equipment in the bust. With no equipment and no
legal supply, Carlisle has had to look to the underground sources for supplies.

"They haven't given me one piece of equipment back still," Carlisle
said after his court appearance. "We're still having to buy black
market pot....They're violating my charter rights."

He plans to pursue his case by arguing the action of seizing his
growing equipment violates sections seven, 12 and 15 of the Charter
of Rights and Freedoms. Section seven deals with the life, liberty
and security for all Canadians; section 15 with equality under the
law; and section 12 deals with cruel or unusual treatment or
punishment, something he argues is the case because he has been
forced to go to the black market. "They are putting me in harm's way."

Carlisle made his application in Supreme Court after going through
the same process in 2003. At that time, Justice Linda Loo ordered his
growing equipment be returned following their seizure by RCMP in Hope
in June, 2001.

By sending the matter to provincial court to examine the charter
issues, Justice Grist opted for direction from written law over the
case law. Still, Carlisle was pleased his application will be going
through the lower court, as it should simplify

his case when it comes to costs and travel time.

The application to have his equipment is just one of several cases
that has cropped up as a result of the bust in January 2005. There
are criminal charges pending against Felger and Frist. As well,
Carlisle is planning a civil suit in Supreme Court to cover the value
of his lost crop.

After he produces his own marijuana, he takes a large dose but not by
smoking it. Carlisle suggests there are ways such as vapourizing and
inhaling the cannibinoids, which come from the appendages on the
plant known as trichomes. This process allows him to get his dose
without having to smoke a large quantity of the drug, something that
would irritate his respiratory system.

Carlisle said most of the plant, outside of the trichomes, has no
medicinal value. Yet, by having to the buy the material from illegal
sources rather than produce it himself, he estimates it can cost
between $300 and $600 a day, if he is to get a proper dosage of tetra
hydra cannibinols, otherwise known as THC.

"I have a licence, I need my equipment and I can produce," he said.