COURT BACKS POT GROWERS

A JUDGE HAS ordered Toronto Police to return hydroponic marijuana
growing equipment to two growers by tomorrow. "They are our gardening
angels," medicinal pot user Will Palmer enthused of court winners
Bruce Ryan and Pierre Champagne.

In a ruling yesterday, Justice Patrick Sheppard ordered Ryan and
Champagne -- who operated a compassion club or growing operation which
supplies pot for people with medical problems -- to receive their
cultivation gear.

The equipment was seized during raids in May and September,
2003.

Possession and cultivation charges were withdrawn against Ryan and
Champagne in June, but they have been unable to get back their 70
plants, about three kilos of marijuana.

APPEAL EXPECTED

The court ruled against returning the weed.

"We're appealing the refusal of the court to return the pot," Ryan
said.

The justice department's decision to withdraw marijuana charges
against these men does not mean Canada's pot laws are again up in
smoke, said a department spokesman. "As the case was being reviewed
for the hearing, our office determined it was no longer in the public
interest to continue," said Kevin Wilson, a deputy director.

Ryan, who uses marijuana as medicine, was representing himself and
called the decision a "complete vindication" for compassion clubs.

But Wilson said the decision was not a vindication and only reflects a
period when Canada's law was murky.