Re: The letter by Wayne Phillips about Licia Corbella's column "Leave Grant Krieger alone." The marijuana community has been flogging the medical benefits of marijuana for years in a bid to get the drug legalized. The main active agent in marijuana, THC, has been available in tablet form since the 1950s. The pot smokers claim the tablet form is "not the same" as smoking the pot. The bottom line is pot smokers want the drug legalized for recreational use, not medical purposes. People are losing sight of who is backing the marijuana cause. It's a bunch of dope-heads. Ted Sali (Time for a coherent medical marijuana law.) [end]
The Sun deserves a standing ovation for publishing Licia Corbella's June 9 column "Leave Grant Krieger alone." The treatment of Krieger by Calgary police is criminal. The 86-year-old Henry Adams is living proof and a ringing endorsement of the benefits of cannabis. I resent my tax dollars paying police and courts to prosecute people who use marijuana as a medicine. Recently, Dr. Patrick Smith of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health told the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs that: "If we discovered three drugs today and they were alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, there isn't an expert in the country who would recommend that marijuana be the one that is banned based on individual and societal harm." [continues 68 words]
Licia corbella's column, "Leave Grant Krieger alone," is courageous. I once considered her one of the "enemy" in this battle against wrong. Now I see she could be a "leader" in ending the injustices of the war on drugs. Amanda Jones (Corbella wants the persecution of those who use medical marijuana to come to an end.) [end]
It's High Time Our Law Enforcement Agencies Got Their Priorities Straight On Tuesday, some United States senators noted that prior to Sept. 11, the FBI had time to wiretap a New Orleans brothel for 13 months with 10 agents. At the same time, of course, information about large numbers of Middle Eastern men taking flying lessons -- without wanting to learn how to land or takeoff -- went virtually uninvestigated. They were much too busy investigating a victimless crime. Tsk, tsk, tsk, many now say. How could a law enforcement agency have such obviously wonky priorities? [continues 868 words]
Re: the JUNE 2 letter "Valid questions deserve valid answers." As a pot dealer, Grant Krieger must be inept. He doesn't own a watch, let alone a flashy Rolex. He drives beat-up old cars that are usually borrowed, and he sells his product at a loss! His drug network consists of 120 (and growing) members who have been verified by a doctor or registered health practitioner to have the disease they use alternative medicine for. As for the second allegation, the writer obviously knows little about the human body, what a muscle spasm is, or what is meant by the concept of building up a tolerance. That Grant is able to drive and clocks over 100,000 km a year on average, with no accidents, is a tribute to this medicine. And his only traffic citations have a "king" at the end of the word. Grant Cluff (The authorities should leave him alone.) [end]
I understand Grant Krieger was given permission to grow and use marijuana for his personal use. Did he also get permission to provide pot to anyone he feels should have it? ("Pot crusader charged," May 24.) I'm wondering how he feels different from a drug dealer? The last time I checked, he was not licensed by the government to grow marijuana for public use. Another thing about his situation that concerns me is that he says he uses pot daily to control his pain. Why does he still have a driver's licence? Did the court ruling allowing him to grow and use marijuana for medicinal purposes come with the ability to drive impaired? Leanne Reynolds (Valid questions.) [end]
Henry George Adams is an unlikely "criminal." He is 86 years old, has never been in jail, has always paid his taxes on time and has lived his "life for the Lord." Indeed, the thick, leather-bound Bible sitting on his daughter's kitchen table in southeast Calgary is so worn, anyone looking at it would assume he'd had it his entire life. "Oh no," he says with a chuckle. "This Bible is not even two years old. It's just that there's no better way we can spend our time than reading God's word." [continues 610 words]
Re: "Pot advocate charged again," May 24. So, that dangerous Grant Krieger has been apprehended again, this time with almost 20 ounces of someone's medicine! That arrest and seizure alone will surely be the straw that will topple the whole stack of problems regarding cannabis use and distribution. Krieger is hardly a threat to public safety. In fact, as a provider of medicine and as a patient himself, Krieger is one of those rare birds who stands up to bureaucratic quackery for a patient's right to safe, effective medicine. Allan Erickson Eugene, Ore. [end]
After waiting 14 hours in custody, marijuana advocate Grant Krieger was released early Friday on $300 bail and ordered not to touch the drug after being charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking. But it was a condition Krieger said he couldn't abide by, explaining he already "blew that one when I got out of the police station." It means he could end up back in custody for violating the conditions of his release. Krieger, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, has permission from the federal government to use marijuana for medical purposes. He was arrested Thursday after police allegedly found 550 grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in his car. [end]
Pot crusader Grant Krieger is facing new drug charges. City police report that Krieger was arrested early Thursday afternoon following a routine traffic stop. Officers found 550 grams of marijuana and drug trafficking paraphernalia, said Staff Sgt. Roger Chaffin of the drug unit. Krieger has been charged with possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking. The Calgary resident, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, won a five-year legal battle in December 2000 to smoke marijuana for medicinal reasons. Since then, however, Krieger and his suppliers have been charged on several occasions. Krieger has argued that people such as him are too sick to grow their own supply. Health Canada passed new regulations last year allowing applicants to possess or grow their own marijuana if they can prove their pain can't be treated with other drugs. [end]
Marijuana crusader Grant Krieger has been arrested and charged again for possessing pot for the purpose of trafficking after a routine traffic stop in Calgary. After officers seized 550 grams of marijuana from Krieger's car together with drug trafficking paraphernalia, the medicinal pot advocate's wife spoke out against the police. Krieger, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, has been waging an ongoing battle with police and through the courts for years, advocating the use of marijuana for medical reasons. In recent years, Krieger was charged with possessing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, and had a court acquit him, saying he was justified in selling pot to the chronically ill. [continues 94 words]
Activist Says Police Should 'Leave Sick Alone' Seven hundred pot plants seized by the RCMP were meant to help terminally ill patients, claims the man charged in connection with the operation. Randy Newsham, 35, was charged with cultivation of a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking after Mounties found the plants in his home near Rumsey, about 130 kilometres northeast of Calgary. The RCMP estimated the crop's value at $500,000, but Newsham said the pot was never going to be sold on the street and was worth far less. [continues 354 words]
I worked with Grant Krieger several years ago when we created the original Universal Compassion Centre in Calgary. Since those days we've seen the creation of the Canadian Cannabis Coalition and the Federal Marijuana Party of Canada. Practically every official institution with a say has been calling for the decriminalization of cannabis. These are the "experts" by the way. I'll assume letter writer S. Nelson (Oct. 30) has been living under a rock for the last decade. It is the only explanation I have for those people who still believe the 80 years of lies regarding cannabis that has been fed them by the government. Stan Sambey Federal Marijuana Party (It's high time, eh Stan?) [end]
Don't expect Winnipeg police to show much compassion for a medicinal marijuana club. "We'll look at all legal aspects of the operation and if they're doing something outside of the boundaries of the law we will definitely be looking at them," said Sgt. Ken Shipley of the drug unit. Manitoba Compassion Club organizer Chris Buors hopes he won't be arrested, but will fight the charges in court if he is. "I don't see myself as doing bad. I don't think they could find a jury in the province that would convict me," said Buors, who was sentenced to 23 months in the community after he was convicted of operating a grow operation with 577 plants in 1997. [continues 73 words]
With the latest story about Grant Krieger, police in Calgary seem hell-bent on breeding even more disrespect for the law than already exists. The fact that a jury of his peers refused to criminalize Grant ought to be a lesson to all Canadians. Our ancestors understood that tyrants could pass any kind of chicanery into law. The Magna Carta and the rights of an Englishman were meant to have a jury decide not only guilt but also if the law is just. Perhaps the ostensible defenders of liberty in Parliament need a reminder of just what freedoms they are supposed to be defending. John Stuart Mill said: "The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it." Chris Buors (They should leave Grant alone.) [end]
They have done it again. How do they expect me to get my own medicine, let alone help others with serious medical problems? My marijuana grow operation was decimated -- 655 plants destroyed by police vandalism resulting in four months of research down the drain. This included 12 original species and many different strains for maximum benefit to those in need, including Section 56 exemption holders. Doesn't a Court of Queens Bench directive mean anything? It has given me the right to grow my own pot for medicinal purposes, but that fact is continuously ignored. When you hurt my operation, you are hurting all those who rely on me. These people could be your neighbours or relatives, people from all walks of life, people who benefit from this healing herb. Grant Krieger (A waste of police resources and court time.) [end]
New Resident Grant Krieger Charged By Local Police Airdrie resident Grant Krieger has been labelled a crusader in the fight for the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. He has spent numerous hours in court fighting for this right and the right of others like him who battle life-altering diseases. It is the age-old argument of how much control the government should have over the public versus how much control an individual should have over his or her own destiny. [continues 959 words]
Michael Mann puffs contentedly on a glass pipe and exhales a cloud of marijuana smoke that swirled around his cramped Victoria condo before dissipating near the ceiling. The hepatitis C sufferer is one of just 336 Canadians in "medical need" who have been legally allowed to smoke pot since Ottawa first allowed exemptions to drug laws on compassionate grounds in June 1998. Last month, the federal government brought in a law to regularize the use of medicinal marijuana, the first legislation of its kind in the world. [continues 1690 words]
RE: Letter of the day from Wanda Johnson (Aug. 9). My sympathies to her on her illness, but my frowns to her on her narrow-minded opinion: "Personally, I think the patients who will benefit from marijuana if they are gravely ill or in their final days..." I suggest she talks to Grant Krieger or any of the thousands of people marijuana has helped to reduce their suffering and improve their quality of life, before she invokes the "Reefer Madness Syndrome." Just because she didn't know what she was doing, was uninformed and had a bad experience. David Handley (Testing and regulation of medical marijuana has a way to go.) [end]
Last fall, Grant Krieger of Calgary went to court to fight a charge of cultivating marijuana. He told the judge that pot alleviated his symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Judge Darlene Acton was sympathetic, and then some. She threw out the charge, said it violated Krieger's security rights under the federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms and gave Parliament 12 months to amend drug legislation so that sick people could get medicinal cannabis. It's because of the Acton judgment and others like it since 1997 that Canada this week has become the first country in the world to allow people to possess marijuana for medicinal purposes. The new regulations, which took effect Monday, allow sick and dying people to take marijuana for pain or symptom relief, provided they can get one doctor (in some cases, two are required) to prescribe it after attesting that other remedies have been ineffective. [continues 350 words]
