OFF THE POT

Advocate vows to quit growing plants

A Chilliwack man with a licence to grow medical marijuana says he'll never
grow it again, after he was tortured and almost killed last week.

Brian Carlisle said he was bound with his own bedsheet, beaten with a rod,
pepper-sprayed and hit with a stun gun repeatedly, after five people broke
into his home looking for a marijuana garden that didn't exist.

"They were so well-organized and had walkie-talkies. They tortured me and
enjoyed it," Carlisle said.

"They were posing as police as they came through the window, but when I
heard the sound of the tape ripping, I knew it wasn't cops."

Carlisle would not disclose his location, but suffered cuts, bruises and
broken bones in his face.

"I'm just relieved my children were not harmed," he said. His wife, Shannon,
was tied with tape and was punched when she wouldn't obey commands. "While
tied up in the sheet, I was hit with a long metal rod. I managed to turn
over on my back and they started with the Taser," he said. He begged his
assailants not to tape his mouth, saying as an asthmatic, he would
suffocate.

"One of them said, 'Good, then it will be quicker,'" he recalled.

"But the worst thing to deal with was the pepper spray. They sprayed me from
head to toe and it was like I was on fire."

For years, Carlisle has championed medicinal use of marijuana in Canada. He
now says the risk of "grow rips" and violence are too great. "I never wanted
to grow marijuana, or be a farmer, all I ever wanted to do was law,"
Carlisle, who's spent two years working as a clerk in two law firms, said.

"I worry that everyone who grows pot will have this happen to them. People
like me are being dealt a death sentence every day that (federal Health
Minister Ujjal) Dosanjh doesn't do something to secure safe medical
marijuana."

He said there's no way to ensure the safety of his family, so he won't grow
marijuana any more.

"Police are seeking the public's assistance to identify the assailants,"
RCMP Cpl. Sean Sullivan said.

Police attended the scene to gather evidence, but no arrests have been made.

The invasion of the Storey Avenue home was called in at 1:30 a.m. Sept. 1.