POT BUST SENDS SOCIETY REELING

Last week's RCMP bust of an East Sooke marijuana grow-op has deprived
almost 400 people from the medicinal pot they desperately need, according
to the president of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society.

Phillippe Lucas said the Victoria-based society's 399 members, who are
battling critical and chronic illnesses, are now forced to look to the
black market for their marijuana.

"It is an incredible shock to all of us," Lucas said of the Thursday
afternoon bust. "It was the best and safest supply in Western Canada."

West Shore RCMP members seized more than 900 plants from a house and an
outbuilding on the same property in the 5000-block of Mt. Matheson Road
Thursday, said Cpl. Brian Kerr of the detachment's street crime unit in a
Friday interview. RCMP arrested a pair of men on the property for
production of cannabis and for possession of a controlled substance for the
purpose of trafficking. The charges are under the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act. Both men,whose names have not been released, are expected
to appear in court this summer, Kerr said.

However, Lucas is seeking to have the Crown prosecutors drop the charges
against the two men because the marijuana was being grown for medical
purposes. The president identified the two men as being the paid caretaker
of the facility, which is known as the Vancouver Island Therapeutic
Cannabis Research Institute, and a friend who dropped by.

The facility was a lab-style operation and was very clearly marked by signs
as an operation of the compassion society, Lucas said. Kerr described the
operation as "very sophisticated" and noted that "a lot of time and money
went into it." It is one of the largest he's seen in his 20 years in this
kind of work.

The society's president was in contact via phone with Kerr several times
during Thursday's operation, Lucas said. He alleges the RCMP were trying to
clarify with Health Canada how many plants could legally be grown but this
could not be accomplished because the offices in Ottawa were closed. Kerr
could not be reached for comment Monday on the matter.

The facility had been operating for about 15 months and was licensed to
have 70 plants, according to Lucas. When asked why there were more than 900
plants, the president said they were for research and to supply the
society's members. There were 35 different strains of marijuana. Each was
cultivated to treat different medical conditions.

"Every gram that was produced by the facility was accounted for by the
compassion society," Lucas said. "Our entire goal was to do this in a way
that provided the safest and most secure supply and broke us away from the
(vagueness) of the black market." Lucas would not speak about who actually
owned the Mt. Matheson property, but said himself and the society were
leasing it.

Though he would not say how much members were doling out to acquire
marijuana from the facility, the president said the East Sooke operation
caused a dramatic drop in price. Now, Lucas said his organization must find
growers to supply its members, who are fighting such illnesses as cancer
and AIDS. As well as the loss of supply and research, Lucas said the bust
means the society is using its energies in court and in justifying its
work, rather than serving its members.

When asked if the society would reestablish the research institute, Lucas
said "The compassion society will do what we can for the members."

The information leading to the RCMP executing the search warrant last week
is sealed by court order, Kerr said, and is part of an ongoing
investigation. Sooke RCMP Staff Sgt. Jennie Latham said her detachment was
notified about the operation, but was not involved.

The raid seems to have surprised Mt. Matheson Road neighbours as one male
resident said himself and those he has spoken to on the road were not aware
of the marijuana growing operation. However, now that people know about it,
he is concerned for the neighbourhood's safety. He worries people trying to
rip off grow-ops might comb the neighbourhood looking for it and increased
traffic could endanger the children living nearby.