cannabisnews.com: Marijuana 'Pharmacist' Wins Praise for His Work





Marijuana 'Pharmacist' Wins Praise for His Work
Posted by CN Staff on July 11, 2002 at 07:44:17 PT
By Tom Hawthorn, Special to The Globe and Mail
Source: Globe and Mail 
Philippe Lucas called the police after he discovered a break-in at the storefront office of his non-profit society. An officer surveyed a hole in the wall, opened his notepad and asked what was missing. "About 23 pot cookies and about maybe $1,200 worth of cannabis," Mr. Lucas said.The officer looked around, Mr. Lucas recalled, before asking, "What exactly is it that you guys do here?" The storefront was home to the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, a pot pharmacy that sells marijuana to clients who have referrals from their doctors.
Police caught the thief within days. Mr. Lucas identified the marijuana as belonging to his group.He wound up in handcuffs, facing trafficking charges with a maximum penalty of five years less a day. Afterward, he felt like a dope."It may have been naive in hindsight to go in and identify the cannabis," Mr. Lucas said recently. "But I really thought of it as the society's medicine."He pleaded guilty. On Friday, after 20 months of nervous anticipation, Mr. Lucas walked out of B.C. Provincial Court with an absolute discharge and words of praise from the judge.People seeking the decriminalization of marijuana for recreational and, especially, medicinal use were watching the case closely.In granting an absolute discharge, Judge Robert Higinbotham noted that Mr. Lucas's group registered under the Society Act, got a business licence, kept meticulous records of finances and inventory, and took steps to ensure that the marijuana was not redistributed by members.The judge also noted that the storefront operated openly and with tacit knowledge of the police, yet its location was not widely known. The society did not advertise its presence.Judge Higinbotham praised Mr. Lucas for being motivated not by greed, but by good."His conduct did ameliorate the suffering of others," the judge said. "By this court's analysis, Mr. Lucas enhanced other people's lives at minimal or no risk to society, although he did it outside any legal framework."He provided that which the government was unable to provide: a safe and high-quality supply of marijuana to those needing it for medicinal purposes. He did this openly, and with reasonable safeguards."Mr. Lucas, 32, celebrated his discharge by popping a bottle of 1983 Chateau Lafitte Rothschild, a present from his mother on his 21st birthday. While his friends and family drank heartily, Mr. Lucas could enjoy only a taste. He has hepatitis C, contracted from a blood transfusion during surgery at the age of 12.His condition was not diagnosed until 1995, during a routine blood test to apply for a child-care job.Shortly after the diagnosis, he began to suffer from nausea and general malaise, symptoms he found were eased by marijuana.He helped launch the society with some of the $15,000 he was awarded for being infected by tainted blood. Over the years, federal, provincial and municipal politicians have consulted him on the medical use of marijuana.Mr. Lucas, a teacher and writer, is proving to be a formidable advocate. "He is articulate, intelligent and fluently bilingual in both official languages," Judge Higinbotham said.Chief Constable Bent (Ben) Andersen, whose Oak Bay police arrested Mr. Lucas, calls him a gentleman and "proper in every sense. Other than the fact he was breaking the law."Mr. Lucas, a self-described political junkie, is preparing to seek a seat on Victoria City Council this fall. He would like to run as a Green candidate -- the party holds one of nine council seats and polled well in the city in the last provincial election. It will be his first try for elected office, although his family is not unfamiliar with campaigning.Mr. Lucas was born in Montreal in 1969 to a real-estate agent and a Progressive Conservative loyalist, who divorced when he was 2.He and younger brother Marc were raised by their mother, Pierrette Lucas, who ran unsuccessfully as a Conservative candidate in a 1977 by-election in the Montreal-area riding of Verdun.Mrs. Lucas became press secretary to prime minister Joe Clark two years later. She was later appointed consul-general in Philadelphia and Boston, where Philippe completed high school while living in a Georgian-style brick mansion with tennis courts. Mrs. Lucas, described in newspaper stories as elegant and "a vivacious Montreal divorcée," made occasional appearances in the society columns after her return to Canada as chief of protocol in the External Affairs Department in Ottawa.Mr. Lucas attended five universities, graduating with a degree in English literature, and has a secondary-teaching certificate.The blemish on his record was a conviction for drunk driving in Ottawa in 1991. He was fined $450 and lost his licence for a year for what he now calls "a dumb mistake on a dumb night."He opened an office in a storefront in 1999 in Oak Bay, a well-to-do municipality bordering Victoria. The storefront had been operating for 14 months when the break-in occurred in November, 2000.A few days later, Mr. Lucas was sitting at a desk in the storefront writing a letter to the police chief when the police raided the office."They asked me if there was any cannabis on site and I told them where it was," he recalled. "They cuffed me. They read me my rights. They asked for the combination for my safe at home, as I'd very stupidly told Oak Bay Police Chief Constable Andersen that that's where we normally keep the cannabis for safekeeping."When the police were unable to open the safe, Mr. Lucas was brought in handcuffs to his apartment. Police seized six grams of marijuana at the storefront and about 450 grams in the safe. They also took $1,200.Judge Higinbotham has ordered the police to return the cash, a computer and any unused paraphernalia. The marijuana and used paraphernalia were forfeited.The judge also called on either Parliament or the Supreme Court of Canada to resolve quickly the "thorny issue" of medical use of marijuana.For his part, Chief Constable Andersen disputes the judge's contention that the police gave approval, tacit or otherwise, to the society's operation. He said his department was seeking information to get a warrant to search the office.The society, which has about 250 members, according to Mr. Lucas, has a new location in a storefront on the edge of downtown Victoria. No signs declare its purpose. Members, who need a doctor's reference to join, sign a contract promising not to redistribute their supply of marijuana.The interior decor is serene, with upholstered furniture and a massage table. Pot cookies, hemp oils and rolling papers are available. New-age music plays. As at a wine bar, a menu offers a selection of marijuana varieties, with descriptions of their flavour and details on which symptoms (pain, malaise, nausea) it is said to ease.It has potted plants, but no pot plants.Among the clients is a frail man blind with glaucoma who, Mr. Lucas said, was beaten while trying to buy marijuana on the street. Now, he comes to the society's storefront instead of taking his chances at the dangerous outdoor drug bazaar a few blocks away near city hall.Note: Judge in Philippe Lucas's drug-bust case lauds his business conduct and altruism.Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)Author: Tom Hawthorn, Special to The Globe and MailPublished: Thursday, July 11, 2002 – Page A7 Copyright: 2002 The Globe and Mail CompanyContact: letters globeandmail.caWebsite: http://www.globeandmail.ca/Related Articles & Web Sites:Vancouver Island Compassion Societyhttp://www.thevics.comCanadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmMedical Marijuana Advocate Freed http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13316.shtmlA Couple of Tokes To Ease The Pain http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12077.shtmlOf Cannabis and Compassion http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10989.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by Richard Lake on July 12, 2002 at 07:33:46 PT:
Yes, Phil is a superb activist!
Picture of Phil at this link:http://www.drugsense.org/pix/norml2002/dswkly.htmWe at MAP/DrugSense were unsure if the picture would ever be taken. Phil was under charges when he went to the NORML conference, and there was real doubt if he would be allowed into the U.S. But the border checks didn't catch him, for which we are glad. Now he has no record at all.Philippe is Director of Media Relations for DrugSense and the Editor of Hemp and Cannabis Issues, DrugSense Weekly. phil drugsense.org Philippe networks with activists and organizations in both Canada and the U.S. with the hope of maximizing resources, efforts and impact. He is also introducing media and social reform organizations to the many resources and services provided by MAP/Drugsense. In addition to those duties, Philippe produces the editorial comment and news items in the Hemp and Cannabis section of the DSW. His bio is at http://www.drugsense.org/phil.htmRead his cannabis comments for the DrugSense Weekly posted every Friday afternoon at http://www.drugsense.org/current.htm Judge Higinbothom's ruling is online at http://www.thevics.com/rvlucas.pdf Bookmarks: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Philippe+Lucas 
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Comment #2 posted by Roger Christie on July 11, 2002 at 16:04:15 PT:
 The beginning of (cannabis) justice?
Aloha from the big eye-land...Wow! I am so impressed by this story for a few reasons...the indicators...the persona of Philippe Lucas...what a gentleman! And the Judge, what a fair-minded and reasonable man. That's the way the courts could and should be run, in my opinion. Amazing. This decision is a new high-water mark of justice to me. I hope its a trend and not a fad.Have you noticed the tone of the news the last few days? Bush and Cheney are being investigated and 'outed' for their corporate frauds and scams of the past, and cannabis is being 'downgraded' in England and getting on the ballot in Nevada. Also, the patriarchial medication for many menopausal women over the last decade or so has been found to CAUSE cancer and is being halted. It's all headlines here. Thank Goddess! Now the safe and more effective herb and meds will be used much to the benefit of women (and men!). Super!!! Stock in 'the system' is literally going down ... while stock in cannabis is going up. I' m glad I've lived long enough to see these indicators and this progress. It has primarily been the corporations that have kept cannabis hemp from happening...now they are starting to go down and we are definitely coming up. Hmmmmm. I like it! All the best to you,Roger 
 * The Hawai'i Cannabis Ministry *
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Comment #1 posted by Naaps on July 11, 2002 at 09:30:40 PT
Congratulations Phil Lucas!
The news of Vancouver Island Compassion Society founder, Philippe Lucas, beating the trafficking charge is most uplifting. As the article reports, the Society was a victim of a break-in, which Phil reported. The police knew the suspect and were able to obtain the missing cannabis, which Phil stepped up to say was his, and then was charged. It should be noted, that the thief was not charged, even after being caught with the stolen medicine.The thief not being charged irked many of the local cannabis enthusiasts. It is the classic situation of a crime (break and enter) with a victim (the society); yet the cops using the wisdom passed down from 1930’s Parliamentarians (hey thanks for the native residential schools and eugenics programs, we’re still paying for those errors), and enshrined and supported by legions of profiteers which somehow mangle the justice system into charging Phil, the victim. The Victoria police can strut around happy that they busted Ted Smith and Phil Lucas, but for all their unsavory efforts, both compassion clubs are still running, providing needed medicine to their members.Having met Phil on several occasions, I concur with Dr. Russo, Phil represents a formidable challenge to those looking to besmirch the medical cannabis. Phil is articulate, disarmingly polite and respectful, and his compassion is genuine.    
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