COPS OUT TO NIP DRIVER IN THE BUD

Rick Reimer may have won his court battle to toke and drive, but now the
Renfrew County marijuana activist will have to fight to keep his driver's
licence.

The provincial police are in the process of writing a letter to the
Ministry of Transportation in an effort to get the Wilno resident off the
road for good.

"It's about public safety and making sure the roads are safe," Const. Brad
Burton of the OPP Killaloe detachment said yesterday.

Reimer, 48, was charged with impaired driving after Burton spotted him
repeatedly crossing the centre line on a county road on Feb. 11, 2002.

Medical Exemption

The retired lawyer suffers from multiple sclerosis and has a medical
exemption to smoke pot. But he vehemently denied that his bad driving was
caused by the marijuana.

Reimer was acquitted of the impaired driving charge last month after the
trial judge, Ontario Court Justice Bruce MacPhee, made it clear it was
difficult for police to distinguish that day between the symptoms caused by
Reimer's MS -- slurred speech and poor balance -- and those that might be
due to his drug use.

While police don't have the power to revoke Reimer's licence, Burton will
recommend to the ministry that he be subjected to a test.