'FIGHT NOT OVER YET'

Brian Carlisle says he thinks Fraser Valley MP Chuck Strahl is sidestepping
the medical aspect of the marijuana debate in Canada.

The founder of the Holy Smoke Healing Centre in Hope says many Canadians
are under the mistaken impression that sick people now have unfettered
access to marijuana for medical purposes.

"But despite recent changes to federal law, sick people who are medically
permitted to use are still dying and being arrested everyday without a
supply. Mr. Strahl just doesn't seem to get that," he says.

The medical marijuana advocate took his protest to the parking lot outside
the Best Western Tuesday night, where a panel of speakers were invited to
debate the issues with the public.

The part-time Chilliwack resident and student says he offered to sit on the
panel but the told the medical angle would "muddy the issues."

"Both Mr. Strahl and a staff member told me that the country has to take
'baby steps' towards any changes," he says.

In a recent pamphlet distributed through the mail, the local MP calls the
topic, a 'political issue,' when it's really a health issue, according to
Mr. Carlisle.

"Mr. Strahl even acknowledges that 71 per cent of Canadians support medical
marijuana and that it should not be a criminal offence when used for health
purposes," he says.

Some argue it's desirable for law enforcement to target the growers and
traffickers but they are forgetting "those are the people who allow sick
people to get their medicine," he points out. "I wish Mr. Strahl would
debate this publicly with me."

As a glaucoma and chronic pain sufferer, Mr. Carlisle says that pot is the
only medication that helps his condition.

"I want Canadians to know that the people who are sick and dying, and the
Health Canada crop in Flin Flon, Manitoba are not being put together," he adds.

Last summer, Mr. Carlisle says he was charged by police with cultivation
and trafficking for three marijuana plants. "I spent four days, in trial
to prove that my doctors had the right to give me my medicine," he says.