Pubdate: Thu, 02 Jun 2005
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2005 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Richard Foot
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?196 (Emery, Marc)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/lynn+wood

PREGNANT MARIJUANA SELLER JAILED

New Brunswick Woman Ran 'Cannabis Cafe', Claimed Drug Sold Only To
Medicinal Users

A New Brunswick judge has sentenced a pregnant woman to jail --
forcing her to have her baby behind bars this summer -- for selling
marijuana in what she claims was a compassion club for medical users.

Lynn Wood, 32, is six months pregnant. Her lawyer had pleaded with New
Brunswick Provincial Court Judge Murray Cain to place Ms. Wood under
house arrest to let her deliver her baby at home.

But Judge Cain insisted on a prison term yesterday, saying Ms. Wood
was likely to keep selling marijuana if not jailed. He said she would
have access to medical care while having the baby in prison.

The sentence outraged some marijuana crusaders, including Vancouver's
Marc Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture magazine, who says Ms. Wood
is the first Canadian sent to jail for selling marijuana for medical
reasons.

"A prison term is unbelievable," Mr. Emery said yesterday. "She's a
wonderful person. She already has three children at home. This is
going to be devastating to her."

Judge Cain, however, rejected arguments at Ms. Wood's trial earlier
this year that she and her husband, James, had operated a marijuana
compassion club -- selling only to proven medical users -- at the
couple's Cannabis Cafe in downtown Saint John.

Ms. Wood claims she asked for doctor's letters from customers before
dispensing marijuana.

But prosecutors said the cafe sold marijuana to people on the basis of
only a personal statement that they needed marijuana to ease the pain
and suffering of various medical ailments.

"She had a form that people needed to fill out to become a member (of
the cafe), and there was no requirement that a doctor sign this form,"
Crown prosecutor Nicole Poirier said in an interview yesterday. "The
applicant would simply state that she or he had a medical condition."

Ms. Poirier also said Ms. Wood's customers included students from two
nearby high schools.

The Cannabis Cafe, located across a busy intersection from Saint
John's police department, has been a thorn in the side of city
authorities for some time, especially since 2003 when the Ms. Woods
claimed to be operating the first over-the-counter medical marijuana
store in Canada.

Several government bodies, including the Senate, the Ontario Court of
Appeal and the B.C. Provincial Court have recognized cannabis
compassion clubs as supplying the legitimate needs of medical
marijuana users.

The federal government has allowed regulated use of medical marijuana
since 2001, but its own program, run by Health Canada, is frequently
criticized for offering poor-quality cannabis, and for being slow to
issue permits.

Mr. Wood has said he even applied to the federal government for a
permit to sell medical marijuana, but never heard back.

In 2004, his cafe was raided twice by police. Ms. Wood was arrested,
and convicted this winter of two counts of trafficking.

At her trial, Ms. Wood's lawyer, Richard Northrup, said the cafe was
simply meeting the needs of medical marijuana users in the city who
could not get the marijuana they needed from Health Canada.

Asked why prosecutors never pressed the judge to let Ms. Woods have
her baby out of prison, Ms. Poirier said the Crown was simply
following standard sentencing recommendations for someone considered
likely to reoffend.

"Having her baby in jail -- that's not a consideration for the Crown,"
she said.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin