MARIJUANA CRUSADERS BUSTED IN NIGHT RAID

Newshawk: Don Wirtshafter
Pubdate: Wed, 30 Aug 2000
Source: London Free Press (CN ON)
Copyright: 2000 The London Free Press a division of Sun Media Corporation.
Contact: letters@lfpress.com

Author: John Miner


MARIJUANA CRUSADERS BUSTED IN NIGHT RAID

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.

Police pegged the total value of the seizures at more than $71,000.

Harichy and her husband appeared in court yesterday, charged with unlawfully producing
marijuana and possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

They were released.

Harichy said she couldn't comment because of the charges, but noted police would also face
charges over the incident.

Police believe Harichy, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, doesn't have a licence to produce
and consume marijuana, said police spokesperson Cost. Ryan Holland.

"None was turned over to police or was found last night," he said.

Harichy said she's been working through MP Sue Barnes (L -- London West) to obtain a
licence for herself and her husband.

"It's in the mail," she said.

Three years ago, Harichy became a national figure when she tried to smoke pot on the steps
of London police headquarters and was arrested. She said she needed to smoke marijuana to
control MS symptoms, such as severe shaking and nausea. A possession charge was stayed
last year.

The couple also ran the now-defunct Cannabis Compassion Centre on Wellington Street,
delivering marijuana to more than 600 people with illnesses such as MS, AIDS, cancer,
epilepsy and chronic pain.

Mike Harichy pleaded guilty last year to trafficking pot through the centre and was fined
$300.

Harichy took her case directly to federal Health Minister Allan Rock when he made a swing
through the area in 1998. Rock later approved the medicinal use of marijuana on a trial basis
for a select group of people given a special exemption.

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