The right to smoke weed

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by George Maddux

The battle over Canadians' right to smoke marijuana sparked up again in Montreal this week, with an MUC Police undercover officer testifying as a witness against two volunteers of the Montreal Compassion Club. The club, which has 55 members and another 20 on a waiting list, supplies marijuana to those with painful medical conditions, a practice approved in legislation steered by Health Minister Alan Rock who neglected, however, to make provisions for legal distribution of the substance.

The bust of Marc-Boris St-Maurice and Alex Néron is based on faulty evidence, according to defence lawyer Pierre Léger, who argued that the officer couldn't possibly have seen marijuana being dealt on Feb. 4 and 10, 2000, because his view would have been obstructed by a closed door. Assuming the judge allows the case to continue, the real fight will start March 12, when legal and medical experts will testify for the Compassion Club, who will challenge the constitutionality of the ban on weed.

"[Police] never closed the club, just attacked the two volunteers that were here," points out the club's co-founder, Caroline Doyer. "Why didn't they take the brains of the clubs? Why did they take just the hands?" Operators of similar clubs across the country are anxiously waiting to hear how the trial evolves.