T
The420Guy
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AIDS activist Jim Wakeford was charged last night with possession of
marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
The charges came as a "total shock" after lawyers for Wakeford, 56,
argued yesterday before the Ontario Court of Appeal, that his
caregivers should be granted immunity from prosecution until Ottawa
introduces a system that supplies safe pot.
He was also seeking a legal supply of marijuana that he and 170 other
Canadians are legally entitled to grow and use.
"This is no way to treat a dying man," Wakeford told The Sun, as four
police officers removed 150-200 marijuana plants from a farm in the
village of Udora, near Uxbridge.
Wakeford, who has had full-blown AIDS since 1993, was contacted by York
Police at his Toronto apartment at 5:30 p.m. yesterday after spending
the day in court.
SEARCH WARRANT
They asked to meet him at a farm house he recently rented in Udora for
the purpose of growing marijuana for himself and other people with
exemptions from prosecution.
When he met police at the farm, they presented him with a search
warrant.
"And it states that I have cannabis marijuana plants in excess of the
number allowed by exemption," he said.
The long-time activist said police "agreed to leave me seven plants of
my choice."
And he accused cops of stealing the rest.
"They're stealing my medicine," he said.
He hopes to establish the Farmer Jim Society, a registered charity that
will grow and distribute marijuana, herbs and vegetables to people with
catastrophic illness.
"This is a setback and it sucks, but I'm alive and I'll survive this,"
he said.
Wakeford invited the police to visit his farm "because I wanted them to
know what I'm doing. I told him that ... these plants are being grown
for people with exemptions, people suffering from multiple sclerosis,
cancer and AIDS."
He's set to appear in court April 4.
In January, all of Wakeford's marijuana plants in Toronto were
confiscated by police.
Marijuana exemptee Alison Myrden said Wakeford, like all disability
pensioners, are struggling to make ends meet on a $900 monthly pension
and spending thousands of dollars to buy or grow marijuana.
"We simply cannot afford it and marijuana has proven to be the safest
and best pain reliever for them," Myrden, 37, said. "I was taking 32
pills and they were destroying my liver because my body was so full of
toxins. Marijuana is safe and offers me relief," Myrden said. She has
suffered with MS since her teens.
Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Website: Canoe.Com
Address: 333 King St. E., Toronto, Ontario M5A 3X5 Canada
Email: editor@sunpub.com
Forum: Canoe.Com
Copyright: 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Fax: (416) 947-3228
Pubdate: March 3, 2001
Author: Michael Clement
marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
The charges came as a "total shock" after lawyers for Wakeford, 56,
argued yesterday before the Ontario Court of Appeal, that his
caregivers should be granted immunity from prosecution until Ottawa
introduces a system that supplies safe pot.
He was also seeking a legal supply of marijuana that he and 170 other
Canadians are legally entitled to grow and use.
"This is no way to treat a dying man," Wakeford told The Sun, as four
police officers removed 150-200 marijuana plants from a farm in the
village of Udora, near Uxbridge.
Wakeford, who has had full-blown AIDS since 1993, was contacted by York
Police at his Toronto apartment at 5:30 p.m. yesterday after spending
the day in court.
SEARCH WARRANT
They asked to meet him at a farm house he recently rented in Udora for
the purpose of growing marijuana for himself and other people with
exemptions from prosecution.
When he met police at the farm, they presented him with a search
warrant.
"And it states that I have cannabis marijuana plants in excess of the
number allowed by exemption," he said.
The long-time activist said police "agreed to leave me seven plants of
my choice."
And he accused cops of stealing the rest.
"They're stealing my medicine," he said.
He hopes to establish the Farmer Jim Society, a registered charity that
will grow and distribute marijuana, herbs and vegetables to people with
catastrophic illness.
"This is a setback and it sucks, but I'm alive and I'll survive this,"
he said.
Wakeford invited the police to visit his farm "because I wanted them to
know what I'm doing. I told him that ... these plants are being grown
for people with exemptions, people suffering from multiple sclerosis,
cancer and AIDS."
He's set to appear in court April 4.
In January, all of Wakeford's marijuana plants in Toronto were
confiscated by police.
Marijuana exemptee Alison Myrden said Wakeford, like all disability
pensioners, are struggling to make ends meet on a $900 monthly pension
and spending thousands of dollars to buy or grow marijuana.
"We simply cannot afford it and marijuana has proven to be the safest
and best pain reliever for them," Myrden, 37, said. "I was taking 32
pills and they were destroying my liver because my body was so full of
toxins. Marijuana is safe and offers me relief," Myrden said. She has
suffered with MS since her teens.
Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Website: Canoe.Com
Address: 333 King St. E., Toronto, Ontario M5A 3X5 Canada
Email: editor@sunpub.com
Forum: Canoe.Com
Copyright: 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Fax: (416) 947-3228
Pubdate: March 3, 2001
Author: Michael Clement