cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Growers Make Court Appearances





Medical Marijuana Growers Make Court Appearances
Posted by FoM on November 14, 2001 at 21:17:09 PT
By Tom Philp, The Independent
Source: Independent Online
A Cramahe Township woman and a Brighton man, who both claim to use marijuana for medical purposes, appeared in Brighton criminal court on November 7 on separate cases. Dianne Bruce, accused by local police of growing marijuana at her Cramahe Township property, made a first appearance in Brighton criminal court, and was remanded until December 5 at the request of Brighton lawyer Ben Ring, who acted as Duty Counsel last Wednesday. 
David McCaskill, a Toronto lawyer who has represented Bruce since her arrest October 19, was unavailable that day. "It makes me physically ill to have to go to court because I haven't done anything wrong," Bruce said after her appearance. Bruce was featured in a story about medical marijuana that appeared in the October 10 edition of The Independent. On October 19, members of a police Combined Forces Drug Squad raided her property, seized marijuana and personal items, and arrested Bruce and her 18-year-old daughter, Michelle Hughey. Both women were charged with drug offences, including Production of a Controlled Substance for Purposes of Trafficking. Police have also issued a warrant for the arrest of Jerry Kresjola, Bruce's partner in the marijuana operation. In the several interviews Bruce has given The Independent before and since her arrest, she has insisted she and Kresjola were growing marijuana for the medical needs of more than 40 people legally recognized by Health Canada as "exemptees" (persons allowed to grow and possess marijuana under Section 56 of Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act). Steven Bacon, one of the first 10 Canadians to receive a medical marijuana exemption from Health Canada in 1999, supported her in Brighton court. "Dianne is a compassionate person, not a criminal," said Bacon in an interview outside the courtroom. "What's criminal is that police continue to seize medication needed by sick and dying people." Bacon, who has Hepatitis C, and feels constant pain from damaged discs in his neck, won the right to use marijuana to relieve his suffering. Over the past decade he has seen many Canadians with AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, and other painful debilitating diseases improve the quality of their lives by using marijuana. "Although the Canadian Medical Association is now telling its doctors not to support applications (for Section 56 exemptions), I know a lot of doctors who believe there is something very therapeutic in marijuana use," Bacon said. Brighton resident David Casteels, who admits to using marijuana for pain relief for more than two decades, was also in Brighton court November 7. Between September 2000 and February 2001, Casteels' home was raided twice by OPP and drug squad officers, some of whom also participated in the raid on the Bruce property. Marijuana plants, growing equipment and personal property were seized each time police busted Casteels. On the advice of his lawyer, Casteels pled guilty to possessing marijuana after the first raid. But the second raid has forced him to "take an important stand," he said. Casteels said lawyers in Toronto told him the second charges could probably be dismissed on a "technicality" rather than putting everyone through a lengthy trial. "I don't want to win on a technicality," he said. "I use marijuana for medical purposes, and I want to fight this as a medical case." As a result, Casteels and his lawyer, Dan Thompson, have made a "charter application" and are preparing to argue his constitutional right to use the controversial herb. Casteels' case is scheduled to go to trial in February 2002, one year after police arrested him at his home.Complete Title: Medical Marijuana Growers Make Brighton Court AppearancesNewshawk: puff_tuffSource: Independent Online (CN ON)Author: Tom Philp, The Independent Published: November 14, 2001Copyright 1998--2001, Conolly Publishing Ltd.Contact: letters eastnorthumberland.comWebsite: http://www.eastnorthumberland.com/Related Articles & Web Site:FTE's Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmPolice Get Warrant To Search Newspaper http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11268.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 Ethan Russo MD on November 15, 2001 at 07:05:55 PT:
Ovine Morality
"We have a more moral base; they don't have a moral base."I have spent time in Holland, and I'd vote for their concept of morality any day of the week. The Dutch are responsible, hard working people that respect others. They have the law intervene only when people are harmed by an individuals' actions.Contrast that with know-nothing Amerikan politicians that try to deny education to people who might have once been arrested for drug use. They kick grandmothers out of public housing for the behavior of their teenage transgressors. Compound that with the fact that such politicians later claim that they did not realize the implications of the laws that they drafted. Some morality that is.Morality is a subjective measure. Certain Amerikan politicians have bad judgment of their own worth, and enjoy casting aspersions on other societies that are actually much more harmonious than our own.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by i420 on November 15, 2001 at 04:25:31 PT
Dutch drug trade, attitudes disturb Souder 
{PUBLICATION} FORT WAYNE - THE JOURNAL GAZETTE
{DATE} 011114
{TDATE} Wednesday, November 14, 2001
{EDITION} Final Edition
{PAGE} 3A
{SOURCE} Sylvia A. Smith Washington editor
{DATELINE} WASHINGTON
{HEADLINE} Dutch drug trade, attitudes disturb Souder 
Holland's liberal drug laws have led to a surge of a synthetic amphetamine Ecstasy being exported to the United States, Rep. Mark Souder, R-4th, said Tuesday, but there's no need to punish the Dutch with tougher trade rules or other sanctions."I think they want to figure out how to respect our laws," he said. "If they want to have regulated free pot and free prostitution and gambling and porn videos all over the place, that's their business."But when Holland's internal policies start affecting the United States, Souder said, that's another matter.Souder returned Tuesday after a trip to Holland, France and Italy with three other members of Congress. Discussing the export of Ecstasy to the United States from Holland was high on their agenda.He said Dutch officials tried to convince the congressional delegation that U.S. drug laws are too restrictive."I found their arguments non-compelling," said Souder, whose legislative career has included extensive work on tightening drug laws."I believe they are trying to do the right thing," he said of Dutch officials, "but there is a huge difference in how we approach issues. We have a more moral base; they don't have a moral base."For example, he said, less than 20 percent of the Dutch population attends church regularly."They don't believe that there's anything wrong with having full plate-glass windows with women in their lingerie basically becoming a meat market for guys who want to hire them. Some do 40 tricks a day," he said.He said the attitude is the same with drugs. Marijuana, though regulated, is legal.Souder said that although Ecstasy is illegal, "it's a wink, wink if you have three pills or less." Souder said what is worrisome for the United States is that 80 percent of imported Ecstasy comes from Holland.
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment