Pubdate: Sun, 11 Nov 2012
Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2012 New Zealand Herald
Contact:  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/300
Author: Bevan Hurley

GENTLE ACTIVIST FOUND

Medicinal marijuana advocate's sudden death follows police visit.

The wife of a medicinal marijuana advocate who died suddenly while
awaiting trial for drug charges claims police "harassment" of her
husband put him under unbearable strain.

Stephen McIntyre was charged with supplying cannabis after police
raided the Auckland offices of GreenCross, a group which dispenses
low-grade marijuana to patients with prescriptions for legal synthetic
versions of the drug.

His wife Reiko Yanai said McIntyre was initially upbeat about fighting
the charges. But his mood changed after police officers turned up at
the family home to check on bail conditions on July 16, eight days
before his death.

Yanai claimed McIntyre, who was teaching guitar lessons at the time of
the police visit, was threatened by the officers.

Yanai said the officers told her husband they could smell cannabis,
asked him how he was going to plead and told him he could face further
charges.

"Stephen was very upset by this experience," she said. "Stephen was a
law-abiding, gentle man who was not used to aggressive police
behaviour. He felt his security and privacy was unjustifiably
violated. He felt scared and intimidated."

Father-of-two McIntyre, 47, was found dead at his home in Avondale,
Auckland, on July 24. His death has been referred to the coroner.

Yanai said she planned to write to Police Commissioner Peter Marshall
to complain about the force's actions.

Relieving Western Area Commander Detective Inspector Karyn Malthus
said officers went to McIntyre's home to check he was living there, as
his bail conditions stated.

Malthus said police could smell cannabis smoke within the address when
the door was answered and chose to speak to him outside the address to
"avoid causing him embarrassment".

Police chose not to pursue any charges over the cannabis smell, she
said.

"Police inquired as to who Mr McIntyre's lawyer was so that any
communication that might be required should go to the correct counsel.
This is a normal police activity."

Blogger Martyn 'Bomber' Bradbury will today publish a letter on his
Tumeke blog written by McIntyre immediately after the police visit on
July 16.

"In retrospect, his friends now all see that the police turning up at
his home at night and demanding to know what he was going to plead
while threatening further charges had a terrible impact on Stephen,"
Bradbury said.

Drug Foundation chief executive Ross Bell said McIntyre was a "lovely
guy" who had a "heart for helping people in need".

"He wasn't your typical cannabis law reformer, he was very pragmatic
and a great advocate.

"I think Stephen had a real sense of what needed to be achieved
because the people who are suffering and in pain do need to have advocates."

In its 2010 report into drug law, the Law Commission recommended a
policy of non-prosecution against medicinal marijuana suppliers.

However, several GreenCross members have been charged with cannabis
dealing in recent months. Last month a prominent member of GreenCross,
Billy McKee, was sentenced to 12 months' home detention for supplying
an undercover police officer.

Bell added: "It's at the whim of local police. I have seen lots of
cases where the police have been willing to prosecute and some of
those are very stark cases where a little bit of compassion would have
gone a long way."
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