JAIL WEIGHED FOR POT CRUSADER

Defence Compares Grower To Mandela

A medical marijuana crusader who admitted to running a grow operation
from his home is facing an uphill battle to stay out of jail.

The Crown is seeking one year in custody for Chris Buors, largely
because he already has a prior drug conviction that netted a
conditional sentence and has shown no interest in ceasing pot production.

Buors, 46, is seeking yet another conditional sentence. Queen's Bench
Justice Alan MacInnes reserved his decision yesterday until Nov. 17.

MacInnes was critical of Buors' argument yesterday that he isn't a
danger to society and shouldn't be locked up. The judge asked the pot
activist why he should be allowed to "flout" the law which 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. Defence lawyer Bonnie MacDonald pleaded for leniency on the
grounds Buors was only selling marijuana to people who needed it for
medicinal purposes through the "Compassion Club" he operates.

The club is one of about a dozen across the country through which
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. Only a few of the people in Buors' club
have marijuana exemptions, court was told.

At one point yesterday, 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.

MacInnes scoffed at comparisons to King and Mandela and said Buors'
personal beliefs about legalizing marijuana can't supercede the
Criminal Code.

"Just because someone believes in capital punishment, does that mean
they can go out and kill a sex offender or a murderer?" he asked MacDonald.

"I have concerns about the message (a conditional sentence) would send
to law-abiding citizens of this community."

Buors remains free on bail pending the sentencing decision.