Pubdate: Thu, 30 Oct 2008 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2008 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 Author: Mike McIntyre, Canwest News Service Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) MARIJUANA CRUSADER CONVICTED Prison Will 'Kill Me,' Man With MS Says A medical marijuana crusader with multiple sclerosis says he will likely die in prison now that a Winnipeg jury has found him guilty of selling pot to clients across Canada who suffer from chronic pain or terminal illnesses. "I'm ashamed to be a Canadian," Grant Krieger, 53, said yesterday after a jury found him guilty of trafficking. The Calgary resident said the verdict shows how little the country cares for the sick and dying and represents a wasted opportunity to make a statement. "They had a chance to change the law," he said. "It's a victimless crime they've convicted me of. Now they're gonna kill me when they put me in jail." Krieger admitted he broke the law but was seeking to be acquitted on sympathetic grounds. Jurors took only about 30 minutes to reach their unanimous guilty verdict. Krieger is expected to be sentenced early in 2009 and remains free on bail. "I know I didn't have a legal ground to stand on, but they're penalizing the sick," Krieger said. Krieger - who runs the Grant W. Krieger Cannabis Research Foundation of Canada - has been battling progressive MS since 1978 and said his only relief comes from smoking and ingesting cannabis. He admitted selling pot to dozens of people across Canada but insisted there is a major difference between him and a garden-variety drug dealer. Krieger said his many customers suffer from chronic pain, disease and even terminal illness and have come to him looking to improve their quality of life. The Crown's case against Krieger was simple - although he had permission to possess pot for his own medical reasons, he didn't have permission from the federal government to sell marijuana. There is a program in place to distribute the drug to those who get special clearance from doctors, but Krieger said the whole system is flawed. He said most doctors are afraid to make such a declaration. And Krieger criticized the federal government for the quality of their drugs, which are produced in Flin Flon in northern Manitoba. "It's grown in a dirty mine shaft," Krieger told jurors. He said the drug is overly processed and diluted by the time it gets to those in needs, mitigating the relief it can provide. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin