MANITOBA WON'T SEEK JAIL TERM FOR POT CRUSADER

Manitoba justice officials are not seeking a jail sentence against a
medical-marijuana crusader found guilty of trafficking pot to clients
across Canada.

Grant Krieger said he feared he would die behind bars after jurors
found him guilty during his high-profile Queen's Bench trial last
fall. But the Calgary resident returned to Winnipeg for sentencing
Wednesday, and learned the Crown agrees he can remain free in the
community under a conditional sentence.

The judge has reserved her decision until next month.

Krieger, 54, announced last week he was shutting down the Grant W.
Krieger Cannabis Research Foundation, through which he has
distributed pot to hundreds of sick and dying people across Canada.
The move prompted the Alberta Court of Appeal to replace a four-month
jail sentence with 18 months of probation.

Krieger has been battling progressive multiple sclerosis since 1978,
and says his only relief comes from smoking and ingesting cannabis.
At his Winnipeg trial last year, Krieger admitted he broke the law,
but was seeking to be acquitted on sympathetic grounds. Jurors took
only about 30 minutes to reach their unanimous guilty verdict.