WEED STILL A NO-GO AFTER COURT RULING

Lack of government supply of medical marijuana at the time led a provincial
court judge to shelve 2-1/2-year-old pot trafficking charges against a
Victoria marijuana advocate.

But the stay of proceedings issued by Judge L.F. Chaperon in the trial of
Cannabis Buyer's Club founder Leon "Ted" Smith and Colby Budda on Sept. 7
doesn't change the laws on selling pot in general, says Victoria police
Insp. Grant Smith.

"My fear here is others will use this ruling with the false belief that
they will be able to open storefronts to sell marijuana in a similar
fashion," Smith said Thursday. "I can say in all honesty if they do so they
will be receiving attention from the police."

Smith, who commands the department's targeted policing division, said his
officers aren't going to go out of their way to investigate activities of
the Cannabis Buyer's Club or the Vancouver Island Compassion Society
operated in the city by Phillipe Lucas.

"But if information comes to us that they are trafficking, then we would
investigate it as we would with any other trafficker," he said. For Ted
Smith, defending himself in court on pot-related charges is almost becoming
old hat.

"This is the best thing that's happened in my life so far," a jubilant
Smith said following last week's decision, which saw him avoid conviction
on marijuana trafficking charges for a second time.

He is hoping for similar results in several other trials he faces on
similar charges. Smith was scheduled to go to trial yesterday (Sept. 14) on
charges laid following his arrest in November, 2000 for sharing joints at
the University of Victoria.

Last week's stay of proceedings means prosecutors are allowed up to a year
to find new evidence and re-try the case or else it gets dropped. The
charges related to a Jan. 2, 2002 raid on the Cannabis Buyer's Club
distribution centre at 826 Johnson St., then known as Ted's Books.

A disgruntled client who had been cut off from the pot supply by Smith came
back and brought a police officer with him, stating the cop could find
large amounts of marijuana on-site. When they arrived, Budda was cutting up
pot on the front counter and Smith, also in the shop, was identified as the
operator of the shop. Both men were arrested.

"We've had this cloud lifted and we've gone from the shadows into the
light, so to speak," Smith said of the judge's ruling. "We can show people
this court decision and I can prove that I'm not a criminal."

To his mind, Smith said, Justice Chaperon agreed with the club's mandate
that "people with permanent physical disabilities and diseases had an
inherent right to use cannabis as medicine."

Smith testified on his own behalf that he was always very up front with
police about his activities and that his club was providing a service that
Health Canada was not at the time. Chaperon agreed, saying that she found
Smith's evidence "completely credible."

Referring to the absence of any government-supplied marijuana in Victoria
in early 2002, Chaperon voiced concern for sick people faced with the
challenge of securing pot to ease their pain and suffering.

"It is unsettling to contemplate persons with AIDS or who are undergoing
cancer treatment being forced to go down to the illegal drug emporium which
operates in the downtown core of Victoria to acquire their marijuana from
persons who are interested only in selling them drugs of unknown quality
for a profit," she wrote. "But on Jan. 3, 2002, but for compassion clubs
such as Mr. Smith's, that was their only alternative."

Smith, who continues to have bail restrictions preventing him to have any
involvement in the club's operations, acknowledged that the club could
still get raided given the fact Health Canada is now supplying marijuana,
albeit of questionable quality.

The Cannabis Buyer's Club of Canada has about 1,300 active members, Smith
said, estimating that he has sold pot for medical reasons to more than
1,500 people. He added that since the club has been in operation, about 200
people have been cut off for various reasons, among them reselling their
medicine.

Smith said he intends to continue the fight to legalize marijuana as well
as advocate for the provision of medical marijuana for local patients.

He said he wants to get an audience with Mayor Alan Lowe, who co-chairs the
Victoria police board, to clarify the city's position on the club.