MARIJUANA CRUSADER JAILED 6 MONTHS

Advocacy Has Limits, Judge Says In Passing Sentence

A Winnipeg medical-marijuana crusader was sentenced to six months in jail
yesterday by a judge who says he's run out of patience with the man's
continued flouting of the law.

Chris Buors was also placed on three years supervised probation and will
face an even stiffer sentence if he's convicted again, warned Queen's Bench
Justice Alan MacInnes. "Whether one agrees with his position, one must
respect his right to express it. However, advocacy has limits," said MacInnes.

Buors, 46, pleaded guilty last month to possession for the purpose of
trafficking but asked for leniency in sentencing because he was supplying
pot to people who are ill or in pain.

"This is way too harsh in my opinion. But we are living in the Bible Belt,"
Buors said as sheriff's officers placed him in handcuffs and led him out of
court to begin serving his sentence.

Several members of the Compassion Club he operates filed letters of support
and were in court for the hearing, including one man in a wheelchair.

MacInnes agreed Buors "was providing a service to these people" but said he
couldn't overlook a previous conviction or the fact that Buors appeared to
be trying to restart his grow operation just days after his arrest. Buors
was seen by police campaigning outside the downtown Law Courts Building for
free hydroponic equipment and cash, court was told. "It was clearly a
solicitation for funds," said MacInnes.

Buors was seeking a conditional sentence, which is the same penalty he
received from his first drug conviction several years ago.

MacInnes was critical of Buors' argument he isn't a danger to society and
shouldn't be locked up, asking the pot activist why he should be allowed to
"flout" the law that others must follow.

"You can't be a law unto yourself with impunity. At what point does he
become accountable the same way every other citizen is?" said MacInnes.

The Compassion Club is one of about a dozen groups across the country where
people buy discounted marijuana for medical use. They cater to people with
painful ailments who wouldn't normally come into contact with drug dealers,
but who believe that smoking marijuana provides the only real relief from
the pain they are suffering.

Buors said his club has 25 members suffering a variety of illnesses
including Crohn's disease, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and
depression. Ottawa amended federal drug laws two years ago to allow a
limited number of patients suffering from such ailments to obtain a special
exemption that allows them to possess marijuana for their personal use.

Several hundred across the country have since obtained the controversial
exemptions, but many doctors are reluctant to prescribe marijuana for their
patients, either because it remains an illegal drug or because they believe
any health benefits are outweighed by the damage caused by smoking it.

At one point during the sentencing hearing, defence lawyer Bonnie MacDonald
compared Buors to the likes of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, who
were persecuted for standing up for what they believed in.

"He is helping other people who are suffering," she said.