WINNIPEG MEDICAL MARIJUANA CRUSADER CHARGED AFTER POLICE INVESTIGATE BREAK-IN

The founder of Winnipeg's first club for medicinal marijuana use said he
was the victim of a home invasion this week -- but it was the police who
walked away with most of his valuables.

Chris Buors, 44, said three masked men with crowbars broke into his north
end home early Thursday morning, but took only an inexpensive stereo system.

Buors wasn't hurt in the incident. However, he said that after the police
finished investigating the crime, he was charged with cultivation and
possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

Police also seized 26 marijuana plants and hydroponic equipment valued at
$2,500.

"A neighbour must have heard the breaking glass and called police, but I
asked them not to come in," said Buors, founder of the Compassion Club.

"I told them they really didn't want to go there, but they insisted."

Buors said while this is only his second arrest involving marijuana
growing, it's the first time he's been busted since he began the Compassion
Club last year.

Buors' Compassion Club is one of about a dozen such clubs across the
country where people buy discounted marijuana for medical use.

The clubs cater to people with painful ailments who wouldn't normally come
into contact with drug dealers or their environs, but who believe that
smoking marijuana provides the only real relief from the pain they are
suffering.

Buors said his club has 25 members suffering a variety of illnesses
including Crohn's disease, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and depression.

Ottawa amended federal drug laws last summer to allow a limited number of
patients suffering from such ailments to obtain a special exemption that
allows them to possess marijuana for their personal use.

About 255 people across the country have since obtained the controversial
exemptions, but many doctors are reluctant to prescribe marijuana for their
patients, either because it remains an illegal drug or because they believe
any health benefits are outweighed by the damage caused by smoking it.

Buors said his club includes two people with the special exemption, but
added the rest can't get marijuana or don't feel comfortable buying it from
drug dealers.

A Calgary man who operated a branch of the Compassion Club, Grant Krieger,
was acquitted by a jury June 2001 for selling marijuana to members. The
Crown is appealing the case.

Buors said he's never been bothered by the police since the club was
founded last November, adding investigating officers this week were polite
and professional.

"They were just doing their jobs," Buors said. "My beef is with the prime
minister of Canada, who is the only one who can change the laws."