CHURCH LEADERS GO TO COURT OVER CONFISCATED POT

The spiritual leaders of a church that uses marijuana as its sacrament are
seeking a court order for the return of several pounds of pot and other
items seized from their Barton Street headquarters during an RCMP raid.

Church of the Universe ministers Walter Tucker, 74, and Michael Baldasaro,
58, were charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of
trafficking after the Mounties executed a search warrant on May 15, 2000.

The raid came after a sting operation in which undercover police officers
pretended to join the church and began to buy the sacrament.

However, all charges against the pair were ultimately withdrawn by a
federal drug prosecutor on Dec. 15, 2005.

Tucker and Baldasaro claim they are entitled to their property and are
seeking $16,000 each in legal costs.

"Your Honour, back in May 2000, thieves broke into our church and stole a
number of items at the point of a gun," Tucker told Ontario Court Justice
Norman Bennett yesterday.

The application is adjourned until Sept. 13 because the federal prosecutor
was not available to argue the motion.

Last month, a Toronto judge dismissed a possession charge against a
29-year-old man after finding that Canada's criminal prohibition against
marijuana possession was still unconstitutional.

Justice Howard Borenstein found that because the government has not yet
enacted a constitutionally acceptable exemption for medical users of
marijuana, the law prohibiting other Canadians from possessing pot was
still invalid.

The former Liberal government decided to allow access to medical users in
2003, but did so merely by means of a policy statement without changing
statutes or regulations. The ruling gives Ontario residents charged with
possession of marijuana a new defence, at least until the Crown appeals the
latest decision.