cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Factory to Sue Paper 





Marijuana Factory to Sue Paper 
Posted by CN Staff on October 07, 2002 at 17:38:31 PT
By The Canadian Press
Source: Canadian Press 
Vancouver -- A group of people licensed by Health Canada to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes plans to sue a newspaper for publishing the street name of the home where the pot is being cultivated. Such information in the New Westminster NewsLeader creates a privacy and security risk for residents, said Michael Maniotis, director of the Merlin Project, which has organized five such marijuana factories in British Columbia. 
"It's going to cost the NewsLeader $1 million in court or $100,000 out of court to settle with us," Maniotis said. "To put myself, my wife and the licensees at risk here, plus their medicine, is completely unacceptable as far as we're concerned," said Maniotis, who rents the home and sublets it to three people licensed to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes. NewsLeader reporter Wanda Chow said the newspaper was never asked not to publish the street name, although Maniotis said she didn't interview him or any of the licensees. Maniotis, who smokes pot to relieve arthritis pain and stress, invited several media outlets to tour the home Sept. 30 and asked reporters not to reveal the location of the marijuana factory. "We were never invited to any media conference and sworn to any confidentiality," Chow said. Maniotis said he has e-mailed NewsLeader editor Greg Knill about his concerns and has also left a detailed phone message but hasn't heard back. "We warned them not to publish anything about the Merlin Project or the marijuana factory again," he said. "Otherwise, they'd be putting themselves in a worse position than they already are right now." Knill did not wish to comment and said he would return a call from The Canadian Press but did not. "The whole issue behind the privacy of the licensee is to protect their medical privacy, for one, and then also protect their physical integrity so people don't know where they're growing and they don't come to rob and hurt them in the process of stealing their cannabis," Maniotis said. "What happens to locations in Vancouver that are known to be cultivating cannabis, legal or otherwise? The doors get kicked down, people come inside, there's home invasions, people sometimes get killed."The home in New Westminster is located on a street that is only 200 metres long and it wouldn't be difficult for anyone to identify the premises as a grow-op, Maniotis said. When told by a Canadian Press reporter that a radio station had also identified the street name after the media tour, Maniotis said he would include it in a lawsuit. "Anybody who's transgressed our privacy rights will be subject to a lawsuit." Maniotis said he and the three licensees will also sue the New Westminster police department for harassment because officers have made repeated phone calls to the landlord and have visited the home several times. "They've been calling since last Monday, to our landlord, sometimes up to three times a day on his cell phone, asking to lodge some kind of complaint" against his tenants, he said. "We threatened the police department ... with a lawsuit if they continued that sort of harassment."Maniotis said he invited police to tour the home with the media. Officers weren't interested but later came by uninvited, he said. "The police are going to be investigated by our attorney," he said. "The landlord has decided to participate in the case against the authorities but we're going to choose the time and place to do that." Det. Sgt. Ivan Chu of the New Westminster police department said none of the licences lists the location as a place where marijuana can be grown for medicinal purposes. "They tell us that a change of address is in the works," Chu said. He said police don't know if marijuana is being grown there because they don't have grounds for a search warrant. Maniotis said he has some seedlings and "about 20 plants" growing at the premises. He refused to say whether he has obtained a licence to grow pot at the premises. Maniotis has been charged with trafficking in marijuana at the Merlin Project's Marijuana Tea House, which was shut down by police in January after only a few weeks in operation. Police said people without Health Canada licences were smoking pot and that equipment was being set up to grow plants. The federal government amended drug laws last summer. A limited number of patients can obtain a special exemption allowing them to possess marijuana for their personal use or for the purposes of growing the weed for someone else's medicinal needs. Complete Title: Marijuana Factory to Sue Paper for Publishing Grow-op Street NameSource: Canadian PressPublished: Monday, October 07, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Canadian PressRelated Articles & Web Site:Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmPolice Not Invited To New Legal Grow-op http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14363.shtmlB.C. Marijuana Factory Opens To Produce Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14308.shtmlPot Factory To Be First in Canada, Group Says http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14295.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on October 07, 2002 at 19:21:30 PT
Solution? That L word again.
As long as the general population is prohibited from either growing the plant and/or obtaining it at a reasonable price, the people who we allow to grow the plant (and those who do so without our permission) will be forced to adopt tight security measures. That's why growing marijuana can cause this kind of incident. If the paper printed that somebody on that street was home-brewing beer, there would be no lawsuit.
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on October 07, 2002 at 19:20:01 PT
Dank on the tip of My finger.
These cops are a lot like the wolf attempting to get at the 3 little pigs.As long as cops, enjoy the freedom to cage humans for using a plant, I refuse to trust their judgement. They are loony - loonie - loooneeee, You know.The prez is like a big cop. Here We put Our nuke weapons in the hands of a lunie bird, that ascertains, it is rational to cage humans for using a plant. As TEx Gov. He killed more prisoners than any other, and so He is who We should put in charge of nuke stuff. And then, We should let his brother Da Jeb have a fair chance. (I can imagine, daddy)Reminds Me of the child at the colliseum, durring lion / Christian feeding time. Look mommy, that lion, isn't getting any.
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