Londoner Lynn Harichy, whose efforts helped to legalize medicinal marijuana use in Canada, died Christmas Day after a lengthy battle with multiple sclerosis. She was 42. As part of a national network of lobbyists, Harichy was a longtime crusader for the legalization of pot for medicinal uses. She once lit up a joint on the steps of London police station, an act that led to her arrest. Two years ago, following the efforts of pot crusaders like Harichy across Canada, the federal government eased the law on pot use for those suffering from serious illnesses. [continues 207 words]
Smoking marijuana did for Alison Myrden what pills and morphine could not - -- ease her suffering from chronic progressive multiple sclerosis and left-side trigeminal neuralgia, which causes extreme pain in her face. Myrden was one of about six federal medical marijuana exemptees to attend the three-day Hempfest 2001 that wrapped up Sunday in Ophir. "Everybody thinks we're smoking to get stoned. "It's not like that. There are no residual effects if you're smoking for a medical reason," said Myrden on Saturday afternoon. [continues 901 words]
New rules take effect tomorrow allowing terminally ill patients to grow, possess marijuana Pot advocates are anticipating a major victory next week when sick and terminally ill patients can apply for permits to possess and grow marijuana for pain relief. But some studying and debating the drug think the government might not be prepared. The new regulations, which take effect tomorrow, will let people with conditions such as AIDS, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and cancer apply to the federal government for authorization to possess a 30-day stash of the drug. [continues 464 words]
Critics Condemn Ottawa For Spending Millions Of Taxpayers' Dollars Each Year In The Criminal Prosecution Of People Who Grow And Smoke Marijuana For Medical Use. But Justice Department Says It Is Merely Upholding The Rule Of Law It appeared to be another run-of-the-mill marijuana traffiking case, except for the people directly involved. In a Peterborough court this month, Justice Bruce Glass of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice acquitted 59-year-old Jim Calberry on charges of possession for the purposes of trafficking. Judge Glass said police misled a justice of the peace to obtain a search warrant for the August 1999 raid on Calberry's home and they violated the (sic) his rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by, among other things, not properly instructing him of his right to counsel. [continues 1159 words]
OTTAWA -- Canadians with severe forms of arthritis will be able to possess and smoke marijuana legally if they can prove other drugs don't alleviate the pain. Long-awaited regulations on medicinal marijuana will also allow terminal patients, and people with AIDS, multiple sclerosis (MS), spinal-cord injuries, epilepsy and other serious conditions to use the drug if it eases their symptoms. "Canada is acting compassionately by allowing people who are suffering from grave and debilitating illnesses to have access to marijuana for medical purposes," Health Minister Allan Rock said yesterday. [continues 340 words]
[continues 340 words]
Letters by Lynn http://www.mapinc.org/writers/Harichy Bookmark: additional articles on medical cannabis in Canada are available at http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm Medical marijuana crusader Lynn Harichy and her husband, Mike, face new narcotics charges after London police raided their Teeple Terrace home. The police street drug unit seized 58 grown marijuana plants Monday night, some 1.5 metres (five feet) in height. More than 2,300 grams of marijuana were also seized. [continues 266 words]
There will be a few quiet celebrations in some London homes this week. Celebrations because the Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled medicinal marijuana is legal for use by sick people who are helped by it. Quiet because the people most likely to benefit from this ruling are ill and simply don't have the energy for much more than a few hoorays. London's Lynn Harichy figures she'll muster a cheer or two despite the dreadful fatigue her multiple sclerosis causes. The London grandmother has been a strong crusader for the change, fighting with every weapon she could from letter-writing to trying to light up a joint on the steps of the London police station. [continues 528 words]
OTTAWA -- Health Minister Allan Rock will clear the way today for 14 more ill people to smoke pot to ease their pain. And in the meantime, Ottawa continues the search for a Canadian source of marijuana. Rock said his officials have concluded 20 of about 100 applications from individuals wanting exemptions from federal drug laws for medical reasons are legitimate, but he didn't rule out the possibility there may be more exceptions down the road. "Fourteen more individuals will be exempted under Section 56 (of the drug law) so they can use marijuana for medical purposes because they're very sick or they're dying," Rock said yesterday. "They have satisfied us that they're legitimate cases." [continues 331 words]
Marijuana Activist's Husband Fined $300, Put On 18 Months' Probation The husband of medical marijuana crusader Lynn Harichy pleaded guilty yesterday to trafficking pot through a now-closed Cannabis Compassion Centre they ran in London. Mike Harichy, 47, was fined $300 and placed on 18 months' probation on terms that would allow him to use pot medicinally -- if he obtains an exemption from the federal government available under Section 56 of the Criminal Code. That permission would be the only exception to a condition of probation that forbids Harichy from having or using any drug not prescribed by a doctor. [continues 361 words]
A possession charge against medical marijuana crusader Lynn Harichy was stayed on Monday. The stay effectively puts the charge laid two years ago into indefinite legal limbo. Harichy, 38, was pleased, but subdued following the granting of the stay by Ontario Court Justice Kathleen McGowan. The stay was requested by federal prosecutor Kevin Wilson, who said the Crown had received medical information about a "significant decline" in Harichy's health. The city woman has been hospitalized twice in recent months, Wilson said, and her illness is "chronic and degenerative." [continues 122 words]
Medical marijuana crusader Lynn Harichy, who became a national figure two years ago when she smoked pot on the steps of London police headquarters, had her possession charge stayed yesterday. The stay, which effectively puts the charge laid two years ago into indefinite legal limbo, comes amid a changing climate on the use of marijuana as a way to ease the suffering of those with illnesses, such as AIDS, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. Harichy suffers from multiple sclerosis. The 38-year-old Harichy was pleased, but subdued speaking to reporters following the granting of the stay by Ontario Court Justice Kathleen McGowan. [continues 705 words]
Lynn Harichy's long-awaited day in court should be a short one. The London grandmother and multiple sclerosis sufferer expects to have a charge of marijuana possession against her stayed in court Monday. Instead of fighting a courtroom battle to make medicinal marijuana available to people with MS, cancer, AIDS, epilepsy and any other illness it can ease, she plans to spend her waning energy on a bureaucratic fight to allow her alone to grow and use the weed. If successful, she'd be only the third person -- and the first without a terminal illness -- to be exempted by Health Canada from prosecution on marijuana cultivation and possession charges. [continues 605 words]
Lynn and I sat together in the London court room in 1997 when judge J. F. McCart denied the Constitutional Challenge in the Chris Clay trial. Judge McCart stated that the results may well have been different had the case been about medical use. This Lynn saw as an invitation, which she took at the local police station some weeks later. Her lawyer is Osgoode Hall law professor and constitutional expert Alan Young, who defends similar cases, as shown by the over 250 items mentioning him in our archives. [continues 269 words]
On March 3, Allan Rock told the House of Commons that Health Canada would soon launch clinical trials to test the medical benefits of cannabis. Southern Ontario medical tokers and activists were underwhelmed by the announcement. Toronto AIDS patient Jim Wakeford, who smokes cannabis to relieve vomiting and stimulate his appetite, points out that he'll probably be dead by the time long-term trials are over. At present, a grand total of one person -- Terry Parker, of Toronto -- is legally allowed to use marijuana in Canada. In December, 1997, Parker convinced a judge his constitutional rights would be violated by denying him cannabis, which he uses as a muscle relaxant to prevent epileptic seizures. [continues 361 words]
With the manager of a former pot outlet busted, another London man is stepping forward to continue the fight to sell marijuana for medical use in London. Pete Young, board member and spokesperson for Medical Marijuana Centres of Ontario (MMC), said yesterday he and others in the area will look into opening a new Cannabis Compassion Centre. A planning meeting is scheduled March 18 at Young's London store, the Organic Traveller, at 343 Richmond St. The new centre will replace the one closed last week in the Boston Herb, owned by Lynn and Mike Harichy. London police raided it Friday. [continues 185 words]
Pot Crusader Questions Why Police Charged Husband A Londoner who has waged a battle to legalize marijuana for medical use is questioning her husband being charged by police just as the couple's business was scheduled to close for good. "I feel it's harassment," Lynn Harichy said yesterday. Mike Harichy, 47, was arrested after police executed a search warrant last Friday at Boston Herb, site of the Cannabis Compassion Centre operated by Harichy and owned by his wife. The pot outlet opened in 1998 to provide marijuana to members with specific medical conditions, such as AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis, or people with a letter from their doctor endorsing marijuana use for other ailments. [continues 201 words]
LONDON, Ont. -- The husband of a woman who has fought a lengthy court battle to legalize pot for medicinal purposes faces charges of drug possession and trafficking. Mike Harichy, 47, was arrested after a police raid at the Cannabis Compassion Centre he runs. The centre is owned by his wife, Lynn, who has multiple sclerosis. The centre opened last year to provide pot to members with specific conditions such as AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis, or people with a letter from their doctor endorsing pot use for their ailments. [continues 153 words]
The husband of a London woman who has fought a lengthy court battle to legalize marijuana for medicinal use faces charges of drug possession and trafficking. Mike Harichy, 47, was arrested after police executed a search warrant at Boston Herb on Wellington Street -- the location of the Cannabis Compassion Centre run by him and owned by his wife Lynn Harichy. The centre was scheduled to close for good after a final delivery of marijuana to members last Friday, Lynn Harichy said yesterday. [continues 297 words]
The case of pot crusader Lynn Harichy continues to drift along while the Ontario Court of Appeal ponders a long-awaited decision in another marijuana-as-medicine case. Harichy, a 37-year-old Londoner with multiple sclerosis, was charged with possession Sept. 15, 1997, when she lit up a joint on the steps of police headquarters to protest marijuana laws. She says she needs the illegal weed to ease the pain and spasms of her illness. Harichy appeared in London court yesterday for a third attempt to set a trial date, only to be remanded out of custody until Feb. 10. [continues 114 words]
Pot crusader Lynn Harichy had her trial postponed again yesterday while the Ontario Court of Appeal continues to ponder a long-awaited decision on another marijuana-as-medicine case. Harichy, a 37-year-old Londoner who sat on the police station steps and lit up a joint last year to protest marijuana laws, says she needs the illegal weed to ease the spasms and pain of multiple sclerosis. She is facing one charge of possessing marijuana and now has had two scheduled trials postponed while waiting for the appeal court. [continues 221 words]
"Basically, what I do is, I cause trouble. That's my function. If you cause enough trouble eventually you effect change." Meet Alan Young. Last summer the Osgoode Hall law professor launched a constitutional challenge against marijuana laws on behalf of Chris Clay, owner of a London, Ont., store called Hemp Nation. Clay, whose merchandise included marijuana plants, was charged with trafficking and cultivating a narcotic. While Young's client was found guilty, Ontario Court Justice John McCart was tolerant, handing Clay a relatively modest $750 fine and three years probation. In his judgement, McCart said, "as it is commonly used, occasionally, cannabis presents only minor.or subtle risks to the health of the individual." This spring Young will represent Lynn Harichy, a multiple sclerosis patient charged with possession after lighting a marijuana joint in front of a London police station. [continues 3330 words]
Jim Wakeford, who's dying of AIDS, got a government grant to sue the government for the right to free medical marijuana. It's the latest twist in Canada's constitutional dance with legalized pot By Nate Hendley The first thing you notice is how orderly the place is, as if the owner of the apartment had spent hours making sure his books, tapes and Georgia O'Keefe prints lined up in perfect symmetry. Everything in the downstairs living room is neat and precise, while the upstairs rooms are bright and airy and filled with art work and photographs. The images on the upstairs walls are of celebrities, former lovers -- some of whom are now dead -- and reclining, nude males. [continues 1864 words]
There's crime and then there's crime. In the grand scheme of things, a medical marijuana buyer's club, the London Cannabis Compassion Centre, while certainly illegal, isn't really much of a crime. The backers of the London pot club, Lynn and Mike Harichy, have a history of advocating for the medical use of marijuana. Lynn Harichy has said smoking up to five joints a day helps ease her multiple sclerosis symptoms. Others believe it can ease symptoms associated with cancer, AIDS and epilepsy. [continues 201 words]
Police are watching London's medical marijuana buyers' club, vowing to swoop in if laws are broken. The London Cannabis Compassion Centre has quietly opened the doors to its first commercial outlet. It is located at 199 Wellington St. Although there is no sign on the storefront, police indicated they know it's there and said they'll move in at the right time. "We enforce the laws of the land, however they are written, so I would like to suggest that, if laws are being broken, at the appropriate time the issue will be addressed," police Chief Julian Fantino said yesterday. [continues 480 words]
Lynn Harichy says she's sorry she ever started her campaign to legalize marijuana for medical use. The 36-year-old Londoner with multiple sclerosis says she's found the campaign tiring and expensive. "I'm just getting tired of the whole issue. I just want it to go away," she said. Harichy is charged with marijuana possession after protesting the law by trying to light a marijuana cigarette on the steps of the London police station. She expected to be charged and planned to challenge the marijuana law in court. [continues 301 words]
On Sept. 15, 1997, Lynn Harichy set out to break the law. The 36-year-old resident of London, Ont., contacted the local news media and announced she was on her way to the London Police Department to smoke marijuana. By the time she arrived, a crowd of cheering supporters had rallied outside the police station and were handing her marijuana cigarettes as she walked defiantly up the station steps. Ms Harichy, who didn't even have a chance to light up, was arrested on the spot. [continues 2102 words]
She knows firsthand the devastating effects of having her home raided by police searching for pot. That's why Lynn harichy is willing to risk going through it again. She's started a medical marijuana club that begins distributing pot today, to provide a service she hopes will stop anyone enduring what she did. "We don't want to be criminals but there is a necessity for it," Harichy, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and smokes pot to ease her symptoms, said in a telephone interview from her home in London, Ont. [continues 556 words]
Mindful that a milestone marijuana-as-medicine case is working its way toward the Ontario Court of Appeal this fall, a judge has postponed the trial of London's Lynn Harichy. Harichy, 36, was to go on trial April 27 on a single charge of possessing marijuana, which she insists she needs to ease the spasms and pain of multiple sclerosis. On Wednesday, Judge Alan Baker of Ontario Court, provincial division, said he wasn't willing to try Harichy's case until the province's top court has ruled on the same medical defence issue. [continues 235 words]
Lynn Harichy says her medicinal marijuana buyer's club in London could start swinging into action as early as today. "It could well be we'll be making our first pot delivery,'' she said Tuesday. Harichy said plans to start the proposed club have been delayed and plans to open an outlet put on hold but she and supporters are still proceeding. "We've decided to scratch the planned outlet because we don't want buyers scared by police,'' she said. [continues 228 words]
TORONTO (CP) She knows firsthand the devastating effects of having her home raided by police searching for pot. That's why Lynn Harichy is willing to risk going through it again. She's started a medical marijuana club that begins distributing pot today, providing a service she hopes will stop anyone enduring what she did. "We don't want to be criminals but there is a necessity for it," Harichy, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and smokes pot to ease her symptoms, said in a telephone interview from her home in London, Ont. [continues 559 words]
A group planning to open a medical marijuana buyers club in London will start distributing applications on Monday, a spokesperson says. Pete Young said supporters will be delivering some applications while others can be picked up at his Organic Traveller store at 343 Richmond St. He said club membership will be restricted to people with doctors' letters confirming they have diseases alleviated by pot intake. Young said supporters have gathered up to 36 names of potential members since an announcement Feb. 13 that the club was planned. A club location is expected to open by May 1 and home deliveries could start as early as April, he said. Lynn Harichy, a multiple sclerosis sufferer, and her husband, Mike, were to organize the London outlet. They couldn't be reached for comment Friday. [end]
TILLSONBURG -- Federal Health Minister Allan Rock says he is taking seriously a plea by Londoner Lynn Harichy to legalize marijuana for medical use. Harichy, a multiple sclerosis sufferer, met with Rock in Tillsonburg Friday, asking him to push for legalization for such purposes. She was pleased with his response. "I'm really happy," Harichy said. Rock said he and Justice Minister Anne McLellan have asked senior civil servants to review the implications of legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. He said he hopes to have a solid response for Harichy within months. [continues 177 words]
Health Minister Allan Rock is in Tillsonburg today to announce regulations that will allow hemp to be grown in Southwestern Ontario fields this summer. Rock's announcement marks hemp's return as a commercial crop 60 years after it was outlawed by the federal government. London-Fanshawe MP Pat O'Brien and Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MP Rose-Marie Ur welcomed the move Thursday. O'Brien said "there's a lot of interest that it has long-term possibilities and great growth potential as an industry.'' [continues 384 words]
A pot-smoking London mom says she still plans to open a marijuana buyers' club in London for medicinal users of the narcotic, but wants to line up more public support first. Lynn Harichy said Monday the proposed outlet should open within a few weeks, but she wants to make sure its members won't be arrested. Harichy said she wrote to every MP in Canada last year looking for support and recently fired off e-mail messages to London Mayor Dianne Haskett and to all other members of city council. [continues 303 words]
LONDON, Ont. (CP) ‚ A place where medicinal users of marijuana can go get their drugs should be open within a few weeks. Lynn Harichy, 36, who plans to open the buyers' club for pot, says she's just holding off a little while in order to line up some more public support. "I just want to make sure these patients, when they come in ‚ I don't want them to get busted." Harichy, who smokes up to five marijuana joints a day to subdue the pain from her multiple sclerosis, knows what that's like. The mother of two is scheduled to appear in court April 27 on a pot possession charge. [continues 187 words]
We're Not A Bunch Of Back-Alley Drug-Dealers I smoke five or six joints a day. If I don't smoke for eight days, then my mind is denser. I'd shake a lot -Lynn Harichy, 36 year-old, buys marijuana to reduce the pain, nausea, and paralyzing effects of Multiple Sclerosis. They smoke marijuana and they proudly inhale. They say they dont do it for pleasure but to reduce pain. But those in group of about 50 people who met at 519 Church Street community center last night must produce a letter from the letter from their doctor before they can get marijuana through the non-profit Medical Marijuana Buyers Clubs of Ontario, said Neev Tapiero, who represents a Toronto Buyers Club. [continues 526 words]
TORONTO -- "Marijuana clubs" in London and Toronto -- as well as six similar outlets across Southern Ontario -- plan to openly sell pot to medicinal users. In a bold move they know will put them on a "collision course" with the law and possible life sentences for trafficking, pot activists held a news conference Friday to announce their grand opening. "We are not a band of back-alley drug dealers looking to make it big," said Neev Taiero, involved with the Toronto club, Medical Marijuana Resource Centre (MMRC). [continues 440 words]
Although I've been a pot smoker for a good number of years, I never really gave much thought to its medicinal properties. I had heard of people suffering from AIDS or receiving chemotherapy using pot to stimulate their appetite and how pot smoking miraculously helped glaucoma sufferers, but until I opened my store, I had no idea of the wide range of ailments that people used marijuana to alleviate. Suddenly, I met people who claimed that it controlled their epilepsy. I met people with Crohn's disease who said that pot was the only thing they found to effectively quell nausea. I met people suffering from severe depression and saw firsthand how cannabis helped them to cope with daily life. I met people in obvious pain and confined to wheelchairs using marijuana to achieve a better quality of life. The most common thread among all of these users' stories was that smoking pot allowed them once again to take control of their lives and to medicate themselves without the side effects of some prescription drugs. [continues 612 words]
A Toronto AIDS victim is preparing to sue the federal government for not allowing him to smoke marijuana – and for not supplying him with the drug in the first place. "The Parker ruling was a foot in the door, not a solution," said Jim Wakefield of Wednesday’s landmark legal decision, in which an Ontario justice ruled that medicinal use of marijuana is legal. Mr. Wakeford, 53, wants the government to protect his right to smoke marijuana. He also wants the government to grow the drug and provide it through prescriptions so he doesn’t have to purchase it on the black market where, he said, "it can be laced with who knows what." [continues 395 words]
RCMP To Continue Cracking Down On Those Who Grow, Traffic In Marijuana A landmark court decision that gives a Toronto man the right to grow and use marijuana for medicinal purposes isn't a licence for anyone with an ache to light up, say police. On Wednesday, Ontario Justice Patrick Sheppard ruled in favour of Terry Parker's constitutional challenge to Canada's marijuana laws, saying that depriving Mr. Parker of marijuana would risk depriving him of "life, liberty and security." [continues 519 words]
But lawyer warns there's still no full immunity from prosecution The president of an organization fighting to legalize marijuana is euphoric over a judge's decision giving a Toronto man the right to use the drug to treat his epilepsy. ``This is a major step forward,'' Umberto Iorfida, of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Canada, said yesterday. The landmark decision was handed down Wednesday by Judge Patrick Sheppard, who stayed charges of cultivation and possession laid by police in July of last year against Terry Parker [continues 457 words]
Terry Parker may soon have someone to toke with legally. Multiple sclerosis sufferer Lynn Harichy, 36, is headed to court in London in April to make the same case as Parker. Her lawyer, Osgoode Hall law professor Alan Young, is optimistic they'll win the case, making Harichy the second person legally allowed to smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes in Canada. "I'll go forward with the multiple sclerosis case," Young said, "and we'll probably win because of Terry's case" and the evidence of the helpful effects of marijuana on MS spasms and pain. [continues 163 words]
TORONTO In a landmark legal decision, a judge ruled yesterday that it is legal to grow and smoke marijuana for medicinal use. Ontario Justice Patrick Sheppard ruled in favour of Toronto resident Terry Parker's constitutional challenge to Canada's marijuana laws, saying the prohibition denies Mr. Parker his right to an effective medicine. ``Mr. Parker stands a daily risk of being deprived of his right to life, liberty and security,'' said Judge Sheppard in his 26page ruling. [continues 4648 words]
AARON HARNETT: Lawyer says marijuana is a ``medical necessity'' for Terry Parker. For 20 years, Terry Parker has been fighting to have marijuana legalized because it controls his epileptic seizures Should Terry Parker, a 42yearold Torontonian, be permitted to use marijuana legally to control his severe epilepsy? Judge Patrick Sheppard of the Ontario Court, provincial division, will provide Parker with the answer to this politically and legally sensitive question on Dec. 10. Two months earlier, Parker went on trial charged with the cultivation and possession of marijuana with the intention of trafficking. He pleaded not guilty. [continues 2332 words]
It is early October as I write this and the OntarioQuebec marijuana harvest is just winding down. Not everyone had a great year. Unattended crops were dwarfed from long summer dry spells. Theft was rampant this year and although it is widely suspected that not all of those lowflying planes and helicopters belonged to law enforcement officials, they too were out seizing crops in record numbers. Hundreds of millions of our tax dollars are spent annually on this futile attempt to eradicate a plant which like it or not, pumps billions of dollars a year into the Canadian economy. While the government may choose to miss their initial cut from what may well be Canada's largest cash crop, they certainly benefit from the millions of dollars collected in sales tax as growers enjoy the extra cash that the harvest season brings. Since marijuana money is undeclared income, growers can either stash it in a hollow log or use it to improve the quality of their daily lives. Only the foolhardy will bank large sums of undeclared cash so most folk just spend it and the retail sector benefits. Let's face some facts here. If people could grow gold in their homes and fields what is the likelihood that they wouldn't bother? They'd feel like fools if they didn't. As the negative stigma attached to marijuana use fades the number of seeds and clones exchanging hands has increased dramatically. Simply because it's illegal, marijuana fetches a ridiculous $2,000 to $3,000 a pound. One good outdoor plant can sometimes yield that much herb. On the street, people pay up to fifteen dollars a gram. One thing I can guarantee you is that people are not going to stop growing pot. [continues 580 words]
Dr. Don Kilby recommends that Jean Charles Pariseau smoke marijuana to relieve some of his AIDS symptoms. Aubert Martins makes sure Mr. Pariseau can get his hands on the illegal drug. Jeremy Mercer reports. When Jean Charles Pariseau fell sick with the AIDS virus last fall, Aubert Martins felt compelled to help his dying friend. The roughly 30 pills Mr. Pariseau takes each day to fight the HIV made him nauseous and destroyed his appetite. By last October, Mr. Pariseau, who at 5 foot 2 inches once weighed 115 pounds, had dropped to a gaunt 82 pounds. Doctors gave the Hull man three months to live. [continues 2464 words]
ANTON KOSCHANY Lynn Harichy has had MS since she was eighteen. At times the disease has kept her bedridden, hurt her vision. Prescription drugs help, but have bad side effects. But, Harichy claims, smoking marijuana has given back her life. LYNN HARICHY It takes the shakes away, it takes the pains away. Um, it takes my headaches away. ANTON KOSCHANY But the law says Harichy can't legally smoke pot. Possession is a crime. To challenge that law last month Harichy took her joints to the front steps of the London police station [continues 626 words]
Lynn Harichy tells me she smoked two joints before I called her, but she doesn't sound stoned. "I've smoked so long I don't get high from it any more," she says, laughing. "When I smoke, I can do interviews." She's been doing a lot of interviews lately, mainly because of a protest she conducted Sept. 15 at a London, Ont., police station that's made her a hero in the cannabis community and a pariah in other quarters. After alerting the media, Harichy, 36 and a mother of four, marched to the front of the London cop shop and got herself arrested for possession of marijuana. [continues 692 words]
The London woman who has lit up the latest challenge to Canada's marijuana laws made a brief appearance in court on Tuesday and was remanded out of custody until Nov. 5. Lynn Harichy, 36, was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana last month when she attempted to light up a joint on the steps of London police headquarters. The mother of two and stepmother of two grown children has multiple sclerosis and says smoking pot numbs the pain and is superior to prescription drugs, which can cause weight gain, blisters, a burning sensation and insomnia. [continues 577 words]
Harichy, Lynn
