COMPASSION CENTRE'S FUTURE UNCLEAR

Founder Says He Won't Return To Selling Medical Marijuana

The founder and former director of the Toronto Compassion Centre, which
sold medicinal marijuana to more than 1,200 people, is bowing out.

Warren Hitzig said yesterday he doesn't have it in him to bring the centre
back to life. It was shut down after he was arrested Tuesday on charges of
possession of marijuana and hashish, possession for the purpose of
trafficking in the drugs, and possession of the proceeds of crime.

So were three of his former staff, some of whom are long-time friends.

The centre's future remains unclear. Although its Web site says it will
reopen soon in a limited way, Hitzig, 25, won't be a part of it.

Police confiscated marijuana after the centre, near the corner of St. Clair
Ave. W. and Bathurst St., was robbed in December. Then nothing happened.

"We were under the (impression) that they weren't happy with what we were
doing, but they were going to look the other way because they realized I
wasn't selling it to kids," Hitzig said.

"We weren't trying to get in anyone's face; we were just trying to provide
a service that the government has not yet established."

He was mistaken about what the police would do.

"When they came and arrested us, they had guns pointed to our face," a
tired Hitzig said yesterday. "I know it's their protocol, but they knew
what we were doing. We've been operating for five years. Why didn't they
just call and say, 'We're coming down.'"

The centre provided marijuana to people with such illnesses as cancer,
diabetes and multiple sclerosis to relieve their pain, and to AIDS patients
to help improve their appetites. The government allows certain patients to
use the drug for medicinal purposes.

Hitzig met his lawyer, Osgoode Hall law school professor Alan Young, in
January, 1998.

"Warren showed up with eight other freaks, as a I call them, and they met
me in my office and all told me they wanted to set up their own compassion
clubs," Young recalled. He wrote to then-minister of health Allan Rock,
asking him to authorize the clubs for the medical use of marijuana, but was
refused.

The clubs launched in Toronto, London, Kitchener, St. Catharines, Guelph
and Niagara Falls. Most have folded.

Clients required a letter of diagnosis from their doctor. On average, the
centre sold marijuana for about $10 per gram.

One other Toronto compassion centre - CALM (Cannabis as Living Medicine)
- still exists.

Young, a long-time advocate of legalizing marijuana, said the centre may
close but the need will still be there.

"The police are not going to win this," he said. "They can disrupt the
service of the club ... and three clubs will pop up in its place."

Hitzig is also one of seven people suing the federal government over
regulations regarding the medicinal use of marijuana.

They're asking Ottawa to strike down regulations spelling out the
conditions under which the use of medical marijuana is allowed.

The group says Ottawa's regulations are impossible to fulfil because
doctors have been warned by their insurers not to sign the required medical
declarations for people seeking pot.

Hitzig is now banned from entering his former office unless accompanied by
a police officer. A few years ago, he says, he would have gone anyway. He
wouldn't have cared.

It isn't worth it any more, Hitzig says. Not after spending a night in jail.

"I lost my freedom for helping. Kind of ironic in a way," he said. "It was
a worthwhile experience because I know I'm never going back."