POT CRUSADER VOWS TO CONTINUE DEALING

Pot crusader Grant Krieger says he will provide marijuana to others
for medicinal purposes starting today after winning a
precedent-setting legal case Wednesday.

The 47-year-old, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, vowed to
continue no matter how many times he is charged for
trafficking.

"I'm ready to start providing medicine for people who are ill,"
Krieger said Wednesday evening outside Court of Queen's Bench.

"For people who are ill, this is very groundbreaking for them. It's a
basic necessity... I'm prepared to continue doing this for as long as
necessary."

Krieger, who said he once attempted suicide because no medical
intervention had helped alleviate his crippling illness, told
reporters more research should be done to determine why the drug helps
ease pain.

After seven hours of deliberation, a jury of 11 women and one man
acquitted Krieger on a charge of possessing marijuana for the purpose
of trafficking.

Krieger was embraced by his family as he left the courtroom a free
man.

The evidence has never been so clear (sic) such a case.

Krieger, who has been fighting in the courts for more than five years
to change the marijuana laws, was charged after police came to his
home on Bowness Rd. N.W. on Aug.25, 1999 to arrest another man on warrants.

They discovered a grow operation and various drug paraphernalia.

During his trail, Krieger admitted he had a 29-plant grow operation at
his home and supplied the drug to others.

Because of his illness, Krieger is permitted to grow marijuana to ease
his pain, and believes he is not doing anything illegal by making it
available to others.

Some of those people, he testified, have chronic illnesses and
threatened suicide because they had no other viable options.

His lawyer, Adriano Iovinelli, said his client sold or gave, through
his Universal Compassion Club, marijuana to people who have given up
on conventional medicine.

"Mr. Krieger believes what he is doing is not wrong," Iovinelli told
the jury.

"He believes he is supplying medicine they can't get anywhere
else."

During his closing address Wednesday morning, Iovinelli admitted his
client did it.

"From the get-go, we've admitted he was cultivating (for the purpose
of trafficking)," Iovinelli said.

"What harm is he doing? He is alleviating the suffering of
individuals... There's nothing wrong with what he's doing."

He said such cases are difficult for a jury.

"They're dealing with what they may feel in their hearts is the right
thing to do and what the law of Canada says," the lawyer explained.

"I believe they've done the right thing by acquitting
him."

Iovinelli said the case would force the Government of Canada to
reassess the laws reqarding marijuana.

"I see this as a beginning," he said.

"It's because of cases like Grant Krieger and because of jury trials
that the government hears the public's reaction to what the
legislation is right now.

"When you have a jury coming back and acquitting Grant Krieger under
these circumstances, it's a message to government; we've got to change
the laws."

The law gives people an exemption to cultivate pot and use it for
medicinal purposes, but it does not give them a legal source to obtain
marijuana.

Crown prosecutor Scott Couper argued during the trial that there was
no imminent peril that allowed Krieger to supply the drug.