MEDICAL POT PUFFER OFF HOOK

A lengthy court battle over the medicinal use of marijuana has ended in
victory for a 59-year-old Osoyoos man.

Errol Dammert was granted an absolute discharge by B.C. Supreme Court
Justice Mary Humphries at a sentence hearing in Penticton Wednesday.

Dammert had earlier been found guilty of two counts of production of
marijuana, following a Supreme Court trial that began in January 2000.

The charges stemmed from a June 1997 police raid on his former home in the
hills of Anarchist Mountain east of Osoyoos and a June 1998 incident when
police at a roadblock in Naramata found a tray of 100 baby pot plants in a
truck Dammert was driving.

The entire amount seized was less than three kilograms.

Dammert was severely injured in a motorcycle accident on Lakeshore Drive in
Penticton in August 1984. He fractured his spine in the crash and still
suffers from chronic back, shoulder and leg pain, as well as severe headaches.

But he says marijuana can ease his pain within minutes. In addition to
smoking pot, he drinks it in tea and adds it to baked goods.

Defence counsel Ian McAndrews had argued for the dismissal. Although
McAndrews said Dammert agreed to no longer grow pot illegally, he must
continue to smoke it for pain relief. Earlier defence plans for a
constitutional appeal of the marijuana charges were dropped due to the high
legal costs involved.

Crown counsel John Cooper had asked for a conditional sentence. But he did
not dispute that the marijuana was to be used by Dammert for his own pain
relief and was not selling the drug to others.

"Given all the circumstances, I am of the view that an absolute discharge
is appropriate in this case," Humphries stated. "I do not see the need to
impose punitive conditions on Mr. Dammert."

However, Humphries noted the whole issue of Canada's medicinal marijuana
laws is still evolving before the Supreme Court of Canada and the federal
government.

"I have the feeling this is not going to be the end of it for Mr. Dammert,"
she said.

Commenting afterward, an obviously relieved Dammert said he's ecstatic over
the court decision.

"I can't see why it's illegal if you're suffering from pain," he said. "If
you've got a warehouse full of it, that's a different story."

Dammert, who walks with a cane, said he now plans to continue his efforts
to obtain a federal exemption, allowing for the medicinal use of marijuana.

He said his application is "99 per cent approved" with the exception of one
key form that must be signed by a physician. Dammert plans to go to
Vancouver where he hopes to be referred to a specialist through the
Compassion Club, an organization for medicinal marijuana users.

Although the absolute discharge means Dammert will continue to have no
criminal record, he was not let off scot-free. He is prohibited from
possessing firearms for 10 years and two rifles seized by police during
their raid on his rural home in 1997 will be forfeited.