Pubdate: Thu, 09 Apr 2009
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2009 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/info/letters/index.html
Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Mike McIntyre
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/grant.htm (Krieger, Grant)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)

POT CRUSADER MAY AVOID JAIL SENTENCE

Manitoba justice officials are not seeking a jail sentence against a 
medical marijuana crusader found guilty of trafficking pot to several 
clients across Canada.

Grant Krieger feared he would die behind bars after jurors found him 
guilty during his high-profile Queen's Bench trial last fall. But the 
Calgary resident returned to Winnipeg for sentencing Wednesday and 
learned the Crown agrees he can remain free in the community under a 
conditional sentence. The judge has reserved her decision until next month.

Krieger, 54, announced last week he was shutting down the Grant W. 
Krieger Cannabis Research Foundation, in which he has distributed pot 
to hundreds of sick and dying people across Canada. The move prompted 
the Alberta Court of Appeal to replace a four-month jail sentence 
with 18 months of probation.

Krieger has been battling progressive multiple sclerosis since 1978 
and says his only relief comes from smoking and ingesting cannabis. 
At his Winnipeg trial last year, 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.

"There are no victims in this," Krieger told the Free Press outside 
court Wednesday. "The only victims are people I can no longer serve."

Krieger testified in his own defence how his life was in a rapid 
downward spiral and even included a suicide attempt prior to 
discovering the magic of marijuana.

"Without it, I wouldn't be standing here before you today," he told 
jurors. "I'd be in a wheelchair or dead right now."

Krieger said his many customers are in a similar position -- they are 
suffering from chronic pain, disease and even terminal illness and 
have come to him looking to improve their quality of life. He admits 
selling pot to dozens of people across Canada -- including several in 
Manitoba -- but insisted there is a major difference between him and 
your garden-variety drug dealer.

The Crown's case against Krieger was simple -- although he had 
clearance to possess pot for his own health reasons, he didn't have 
permission from the federal government to sell marijuana for 
medicinal reasons. 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 ripped the feds for the quality of their 
drugs, which are produced in Flin Flon.

"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 need.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom