JUDGE MULLS POT-SMOKING REQUEST

Man Seeks Permission to Light Up in Jail For Medicinal Reasons

A Supreme Court judge has delayed sentencing of a marijuana grower while
she ponders his right to smoke medicinal pot in jail.

Michael Ronald Patriquen came to court Thursday fully prepared to go to prison.

"I had to tell my daughter . . . that I might not be home tonight and
that's not nice. She's very upset, as is my son," Mr. Patriquen said before
the hearing.

The delay means the 49-year-old can take his overnight bag home to Orchard
Drive in Middle Sackville until Tuesday, when Justice Suzanne Hood will
rule on a defence request to adjourn sentencing until Mr. Patriquen gets
permission to take his medical marijuana to jail.

"If sentenced, I will be subjected to a cruel and unusual punishment with
no medical relief whatsoever . . . so we are asking for an adjournment
until such time as pot is available in prison, if that's not too much to
ask," Mr. Patriquen told reporters.

Mr. Patriquen, a leader in the fight for legalized pot, pleaded guilty in
March to conspiring to possess marijuana in Nova Scotia and conspiring to
traffic in marijuana here and in Newfoundland.

A member of the Marijuana Party of Canada, Mr. Patriquen's Bedford company,
Med Marijuana Inc., is soliciting dealers for a food supplement made from
marijuana seeds.

The charges he faces aren't connected with his company.

Mr. Patriquen and his wife, Melanie Stephen, also face proceeds-of-crime
charges.

Their 19-year-old son is charged with possessing marijuana and makes his
first court appearance today.

Mr. Patriquen suffers from severe neuropathic pain as a result of a road
accident in 1999.

Now, armed with two federal licences - one to grow marijuana and the other
to smoke it - Mr. Patriquen inhales up to five grams of pot daily for pain.

"I've returned to a productive life because of the medical benefits of
cannabis," he said.

Robbing him of that right would be "draconian," he said. "I will be sent to
the only place in Canada where I cannot access the only pain relief
available to me - marijuana."

Defence lawyer Warren Zimmer told Justice Hood the issue boils down to supply.

"Mr. Patriquen is lawfully entitled to possess . . . and produce marijuana.
In jail, he will not have access to his own supply - and that's a breach of
his (charter) rights."

The federal government has started a marijuana-growing operation in an
abandoned Manitoba mine but it isn't at the stage yet where the drug can be
released, Mr. Zimmer told the judge.

Crown attorney James Martin called the defence application a "sentence
stalling tactic."

"Mr. Patriquen does not come before the court as a novice. He's quite an
expert at picking the right time for a court challenge.

"There is nothing in the Criminal Code that says you should adjourn the
sentence until marijuana is supplied."

He said the defence request is premature and that Mr. Patriquen should wait
until he's denied his right to smoke marijuana.