cannabisnews.com: Going To Pot





Going To Pot
Posted by CN Staff on August 26, 2002 at 07:27:50 PT
By Bill Kaufmann -- Calgary Sun
Source: Calgary Sun
Canada's best-known medicinal marijuana crusader isn't returning phone calls. In fact, he hardly answers the phone at all, according to his wife, Marie. "He's going through a nervous breakdown," says Marie. The continued pressure and harassment from legal authorities, and upheaval within the medical dope community has taken its toll on Grant Krieger.
What the Krieger camp dubs a hostile takeover of its foundation's patient list by a once-trusted cohort hasn't done much to soothe the 47-year-old activist's multiple sclerosis symptoms, or his faith in mankind. "He says he hates people," says his wife. "I'm not sure if he even trusts me anymore." The Krieger Foundation -- a body that supplies the chronically ill with pot to reduce the always hideous symptoms -- has fallen on hard times. There are days when hope seems to have gone up in smoke, admits Marie. On the horizon is the Crown's appeal of a June 2001, court decision granting Krieger the right to supply medicinal marijuana, using the argument of necessity. Some of those suffering from MS, Lou Gehrig's disease, Hepatitis C and other chronic conditions have contemplated suicide before turning to Krieger for relief. But in December, in an Edmonton courtroom, that reasonable, compassionate decision will come under fire. It's a sad commentary on how today's phobia over a plant used therapeutically with impunity for centuries can magnify the misery of the sick and disabled. And just as those helping the ill are being persecuted in the courts, we have a federal government that began growing cannabis on the basis of a medical experiment now dithering in granting any kind of approval for medical marijuana. Ironically, it's dope smokers who are usually tagged for being lethargic and inert. "Anybody can sit on their butts ... that's why it's up to us," says Marie, adding the judge in last year's ruling concluded the Kriegers could harvest and ingest to their hearts' content. "The Crown is doing this (in December) because Grant's a thorn in their side." More likely, the powers-that-be see their ability to control the right of consenting adults to consume what they wish eroding. It's a slippery slope -- all the way down to exercising basic civil liberties. The horror of it all is unfathomable. In the meantime, says Marie, the legal wrangling ensures lawyers will prosper, eating up resources that could be aiding the ill. While all of Grant's cash, which includes an $800 monthly disability pension -- goes into the foundation, Marie's earnings from her job tending to oilfield equipment customers puts food on the family table. "We've carried the financial brunt of this and we've given away product because people needed it," says Marie. And even at that, at least one lawyer dispensing advice to the Kriegers says they'll be fighting a losing battle in December, she says. On the law enforcement front, Marie says police in Alberta still hold about $20,000 worth of the family's growing equipment. On Vancouver Island, a trusted grower who did nothing but supply the Krieger Foundation with "four to five pounds every 45 days of really good stuff" was just busted, notes Marie -- putting a major crimp in the medicinal pipeline. Privately, she says, some police narcotics officers in Alberta have expressed to her their disgust over the course of events. Thanks to prohibition, the foundation is forced to turn to shady, unscrupulous dealers, some of whom have recently ripped them off or breached what was once a contract. "The law continues to make it a great business for cutthroats and criminals," she says. Two days after our first talk, Marie is more upbeat. "We're plowing ahead ... Grant will probably be back sooner than we thought," she says. That is, until police and courts with their mandate to serve and protect win the next round. Note: Legal wrangling takes its toll on medicinal marijuana crusader.Quote: Did you ever wake up to find -- a day that broke up your mind, destroyed your notion of circular time .. -- The Rolling Stones, Sway, 1971 Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB)Author: Bill Kaufmann -- Calgary SunPublished: August 26, 2002 Copyright: 2002 The Calgary SunContact: callet sunpub.comWebsite: http://www.fyicalgary.com/calsun.shtmlRelated Articles & Web Sites:Grant W. Krieger Cannabis Research http://gwkcannabisresearch.org/Smoke Out the Politicianshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13880.shtmlPot Ruling Not High on Activist's Wish Listhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13459.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on August 26, 2002 at 10:06:42 PT:
Like I said, getting their licks in
The laws will change. It's only a matter on months, now. The spineless Canadian pols and bureaucrats have tossed the hot potato directly in the one lap that can't pitch it back out again; the canadian Supreme Court. Who, thanks to McLellen, has to rule on the matter, as it's own credibility will come under as much fire as the US Supreme Court has.The LEOs of Canada know this. Like their US counterparts, they see their the days of soft, easy 'job security' fading, as they will be forced to do more strenuously what they have been able to defer purportedly because of the 'drug menace'. Namely, the real police work of catching real criminals like murderers, rapists, child molestors, and robbers both blue and white collar. Given that there are plenty of unsolved murders out there, and that such take time investigating, the police should, you'd think, begin to shift their resources a la Lambeth, away from chasing easily caught and submissive 'potheads' now and go after much more dangerous game. That way, they'll be ahead when the official tack changes.But nooooo, they can't do that; they still come after us...to let us know how much they still enjoy busting us. And, to add insult to injury, they are in the process of legally killing, like they did with McWilliams, those unable to defend themselves because of the twin gouges of illness and poverty. Real brave bunch, we have here.Well, folks, there's nothing wrong with most cannabists long-term memeory...and I remember the names and faces of those who've caused me harm when it was 'legal' to do so. Might they not consider that I, like them, have a 's- list'?A word of advice to LEO's: get your own lawyers on retainer, now. Or get out of the 'profession'. Your department's legal services division will not help you when all those whose lives you ruined with such satisfaction demand recompense. The shysters will be too busy dusting off their own resumes, as your departmemnt will be financially gutted from the inevitable lawsuits and will no longer be able to afford their services.And I can hardly wait.
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