Subj: Canada: Pot Crusader Starts Club In Calgary



Pubdate: Tue, 25 May 1999



Source: Calgary Herald (Canada)



Author: Brock Ketcham, Calgary Herald





POT CRUSADER STARTS CLUB IN CALGARY



A Calgary club that will provide seriously ill patients a safe and

reliable supply of marijuana to alleviate their suffering will be

operating by mid-June, said a pot crusader.



Grant Krieger, convicted last December of marijuana trafficking, said

he stopped visiting his probation officer in March because he

questions the legitimacy of any law that denies him access to a drug

to help him cope with multiple sclerosis (MS).



A Regina judge gave the 44-year-old Calgarian an 18-month suspended

sentence in January and ordered him to report regularly to a probation

officer.



Krieger, who could be hauled back to court on a breach of probation

charge, said he is lying low while he lines up sources of supply for

his club, Universal Compassion Club. He said he will become a supplier

as well.



``I was nothing more than a political prisoner,'' Krieger said.

``Society doesn't have the right to tell me how to heal my body or

what I may or may not use in the process. I just called (a Calgary

probation officer) up and told her I was finished playing that game.''



But Det. Pat Tetley of the Calgary Police Service drug unit cautioned

there is no room for philosophical argument where the law is

concerned, and police will prosecute users and suppliers.



``Marijuana is illegal,'' said Tetley, the unit's drug expert. ``As

long as the drug remains illegal, we'll enforce the laws that apply to

it. That's the way it is.''



Krieger said his club has 25 members who suffer from diseases such as

MS, fibromyalgia, cancer, glaucoma and AIDS.



Most of their supply comes from Calgary growers, he

added.