Pubdate: Mon, 11 Feb 2008
Source: Mississauga News (CN ON)
Copyright: The Mississauga News 2008
Contact:  http://www.mississauganews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/268
Author: John Stewart
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)

POT SMOKER FIGHTS BAR BAN

A man who uses "medical marijuana" to deal with pain from a neck 
injury he suffered in Mississauga nearly two decades ago is appealing 
to the Ontario Human Rights Commission for the right to smoke up in 
front of a Burlington sports bar he frequents.

Steve Gibson thinks the owner of the bar should let him  smoke joints 
in the same spot outside the business  where tobacco users spark up.

Gibson, 42, said he has suffered debilitating pain in  his neck for 
19 years. In 1989, he was hit on the head  by a box of heavy vinyl 
siding while working at his job  in Mississauga. He damaged two 
vertebrae and could not  work for a long time.

"I have a spinal cord injury. It creates severe pain  and muscle 
spasms. I've seen neurosurgeons but they  haven't been able to help," 
said Gibson. But marijuana  eases the pain, said the Burlington 
resident, who  received a medical certificate from the federal 
government four years ago allowing him to smoke pot for  medicinal reasons.

Ted Kindos, the owner of Gator Ted's Tap & Grill,  simply wants 
Gibson not to smoke his pot close to the  front doors of his Guelph 
Line restaurant.

"This issue isn't about Gibson any longer," said  Kindos. "The 
(possible) precedent (ruling) is they are  going to be able to smoke 
this stuff anywhere they want -- inside or outside (public places)."

Kindos said the legal bills he faces may put him on the  brink of bankruptcy.

"I was trying to be a nice guy and went outside (the  bar) to smoke 
but it wasn't good enough for him,"  Gibson said.

"He wants me outside his bar by 100 feet. I just want  to be treated 
like every other (tobacco) smoker," whom  he says are often within 10 
feet of the bar's front  doors.

"They're out there killing themselves (with tobacco  cigarettes) and 
I'm taking medicine," added Gibson. If  I have to be 100 feet away 
from everybody else's  property, I'd be pretty much grounded to my house."

The two men are locked in a battle that has been before  the Ontario 
Human Rights Commission for about two and a  half years. The case has 
seen three mediation sessions  without reaching an agreement and has 
now been sent for  eight days of hearings that begin May 12.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom