cannabisnews.com: Police Get Warrant To Search Newspaper Police Get Warrant To Search Newspaper Posted by FoM on November 06, 2001 at 08:20:02 PT By Kate Harries, Ontario Reporter Source: Toronto Star Staff at an Ontario weekly newspaper say an impending police search is an attempt at intimidation because of its editorial stance on Canada's medical marijuana law. Stasha Connolly, owner and publisher of the Brighton Independent, was notified last week that Ontario Provincial Police were obtaining a search warrant to gain access to a reporter's notes and other material relating to an illegal marijuana operation, said the newspaper's editor, Bart Kreps. "We feel we're being hassled simply for writing about a group of people that the police and the court system is treating unfairly," he said yesterday.OPP Sergeant Rick Barnum, of the combined forces drug unit, said it's "unfortunate" the newspaper views the police approach as intimidating.The warrant, which he said will probably be executed today, was sought because "we're obligated to do a thorough investigation."The paper ran a story last month by reporter Tom Philp on Dianna Bruce, who grows medical marijuana for 56 people on her property in Cramahe Township near Colborne."All we're looking for is a copy of the notes from the reporter that was there," Barnum said.Bruce, who suffers from fibromyalgia and other health problems, was subsequently arrested and spent nine days in the Whitby jail before being released on bail. At the time of her arrest, she was on bail for a previous non-drug-related offence, she said in an interview.Kreps said the paper has no choice but to comply if police come armed with a warrant. "We plan to let them take what materials we have, but that doesn't include the reporter's notes because it has been our practice that those are the property of the reporter."Philp said he's taken his notes to his lawyer, who locked them in a vault."My job is not to do the police's work for them," he said, noting that Bruce had kept police informed of what she was doing.Bruce faces three counts each of possession, production and trafficking in the drug.Her bail conditions prohibit her from talking about the case, she said. But she noted she had applied for but not yet received approval as a grower under new federal regulations that took effect Aug. 1.Bruce provided the names of some of the people with medical exemptions under Section 56 of Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act whom she said have designated her to grow marijuana for them.One of them, Mark Paquette of Hawkesbury in eastern Ontario, made an 800-kilometre round trip last month to ask a court in Cobourg for the release of 2.5 of the 18 kilograms of marijuana seized by police.That's the amount Bruce was growing for him and represents almost a year of relief, he said. His long trip proved futile, as the court refused to hear his case.Paquette, who was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1995, said he's in desperate pain without the drug, but he and others like him remain caught in a bureaucratic quagmire, despite the new regulations.Individuals exempt under Section 56 are allowed to grow and possess marijuana, a Catch-22 for those lacking the skill, health or space to produce the plant.The new marijuana medical access regulations allow authorized users to designate someone to grow it for them or obtain it from the only licensed supplier in Canada, Prairie Plants Systems in Manitoba.Paquette said the new rules, both for users and designated growers, are "so harsh and so absurd" that it's very difficult to gain approval."They're killing us, those people," he said of Health Canada.No designated growers have yet been approved, said Health Canada spokesperson Andrew Swift.And there has been no production yet from Prairie Plants Systems. That's expected in early 2002, he said. A decision has not yet been made on how the drug will be shipped to users.So far, only 38 people have been approved to use marijuana under the new rules, compared to 521 users with exemptions under the old system. `My job is not to do the police's work for them.' - Reporter Tom Philp, Brighton Independent Note: Want reporter's notes for story on marijuana grower. Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)Author: Kate Harries, Ontario Reporter Published: November 6, 2001Copyright: 2001 The Toronto Star Contact: lettertoed thestar.com Website: http://www.thestar.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:FTE's Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmMarijuana Exemptee Freed After Nine Days http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11232.shtmlDrug Squad Raids Cramahe Farm Property http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11197.shtmlSuffering Few Who Legally Possess Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11135.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by FoM on November 07, 2001 at 12:17:52 PT OPP Execute Search Warrant at The Independent Source: Independent Online (CN ON) Published: November 7, 2001 Copyright 1998--2001, Conolly Publishing Ltd. Contact: letters eastnorthumberland.com Website: http://www.eastnorthumberland.com/ Plainclothes personnel from the Ontario Provincial Police served a search warrant at The Independent as we were going to press on Tuesday afternoon. Below, managing editor Bart Hawkins Kreps opens digital photos on computer as OPP officer Rick Barnum looks on. Barnum and Constable Kelly Mason, who declined to be photographed for security reasons, left the office with a CD containing photographs taken for a feature article in our October 10 issue. The article profiled Lady Dyz Helping Hands, a medical marijuana growing operation headed by Cramahe resident Diane Bruce. The operation was subsequently busted by the OPP, an action criticized in an Independent editorial, and Bruce was jailed for nine days before being released on bail. Canadian Links [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by observer on November 06, 2001 at 09:26:33 PT Silencing of Dissent Staff at an Ontario weekly newspaper say an impending police search is an attempt at intimidation because of its editorial stance on Canada's medical marijuana law.Theme # 8 . . . [8.] Anyone Questioning [the drug war] is Bitterly Attacked and Characterized as Part of the Problem That Needs to be Eliminated http://drugwarpropaganda.selfhost.com/t.cgi?8 [ Post Comment ] Post Comment