FELGER: 'I'M GUILTY AS HELL'

Shortly after publically parading his cannabis cache for the media,
marijuana advocate Tim Felger is back in the news - after Abbotsford
Police busted his grow operation on Friday afternoon.

"I'm guilty as hell," Felger said yesterday from his Bradner Road home.
"When I go to court I'm pleading not guilty because it's a joke. Anyone
who's stupid enough to oppose my position deserves to be embarrassed.

"I don't really give a damn about whether people smoke pot. It's about
freedom," said Felger, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor last November.

He said he did not expect the bust by police, complaining that a local
television news outlet "betrayed his trust" by broadcasting the location of
his grow operation, which he claims housed 10,000 AAA grade marijuana
plants. He had invited media to his home to show how harmless the drug was.

However, Abbotsford Police insist Friday's raid was not prompted by the
television news stories aired last week.

"This was an ongoing investigation and any broadcast of this grow operation
at the behest of one of the arrested parties only went to confirm what
officers believed all along," Const. Shinder Kirk said.

Felger, 46, owns the property and was arrested with two other men.

Kirk said 3,630 plants were seized from the multi-level barn and two
greenhouses on the property, which is marked from the road by a sign urging
the legalization of marijuana.

That sign was erected in January 2002, shortly after Abbotsford Police took
down a similar sign during a bust of Felger's grow operation - the second
in recent history. Felger goes to trial in January 2004 on those charges.