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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Courtship takes wrong turn with U.S. drug bust
Bruce Bumstead / Brandon Sun Gwen Natrasony says she�s staying with Jeffrey Ramsden after a wrong turn and medical marijuana brought a U.S. conviction.
When Brandonites Gwen Natrasony and Jeffrey Ramsden decided to take a nice weekend drive to the International Peace Garden, they made two serious mistakes.
First, the couple didn't pack a map.
Second, Ramsden forgot to empty his ashtray and clean out his pockets before inadvertently driving across the U.S. border.
That would be the larger of the two mistakes.
When Natrasony, 44, called to share the news her new boyfriend was in jail, she said they'd accidentally driven into the border crossing line. They explained that to the guard and said they just wanted to turn around. They were asked to drive their car into a garage for a little look-see, instead.
The couple was asked for ID. She said Ramsden had two loose heart medication pills in his pocket. He voluntarily showed them to the official.
He was arrested because he didn't have the prescription bottle, she claimed.
When we first spoke, she was back in Brandon picking up his prescription bottles and getting US$300 to get him out of jail.
They'd been dating for two weeks. When I checked in with the lovebirds Wednesday morning, Ramsden gave a slightly more thorough explanation. The 49-year-old said the border search revealed 4.5 grams of medicinal marijuana in his ashtray. It also turned up the pipe he uses to smoke it.
Ramsden carries a card that proves his doctor prescribed the drug.
He has Crohn's disease and colitis and is recovering from pancreatic cancer. That's the reason he was also carrying the two different strengths of OxyContin and the T3s they found.
Nope, they weren't in prescription bottles, either. He uses a little metal tin to carry his meds.
The U.S. border officials packed Ramsden off to the Rolla, N.D., hoosegow. He spent the night.
When his sweetie arrived back in America from Brandon, she had proof the OxyContin and T3s were prescription drugs, along with the cash.
Good thing, because a judge had already told Ramsden the OxyContin and T3s would be federal charge, complete with a $10,000 fine.
He was off the hook for that one.
As for possession of a controlled substance and trying to cross the border with drug paraphernalia, the judge was more lenient than he had to be.
Ramsden, who pleaded guilty, got a $300 fine. He is no longer welcome in the United States.
"I don't have the time to fight over going to the U.S.," he said Wednesday. "Canada is just as nice."
The U.S. does not recognize his right to carry medical marijuana.
"I told the judge, if you don't recognize our laws as your laws, I guess I'm in trouble," the unflappable Ramsden recalled. "He said that was true."
Ramsden, who once worked as a concrete finisher, is now on long-term disability.
I asked Ramsden if there was anything else that might have drawn the attention of the border guards. Say, a criminal record?
Well, yes.
Twenty-five years ago, he was arrested in Seattle for fighting and public mischief. More recently, he was arrested on our side of the border for impaired driving, fighting, assault and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Now, do you think there's a possibility his track record caused the red flags to pop up?
I asked Ramsden if he's surprised his new girlfriend is still with him after his poor driving skills, arrest and finding out about his prior convictions.
"We're still courting. I'm one of a kind," he laughed. "They broke the mould when it comes to me."
And what does Natrasony have to say, especially after the revelation her honey has a criminal record on both sides of the border?
"It shocked me," she said. "The fact that I've got a heart and the fact that he's been diagnosed with cancer... I just have a lot of feeling for him. I just want him to be OK."
If there's a moral to this story, it is this: Don't get into cars with strangers. If you do, pack a map and some bail money, honey.
lindor.reynolds@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 22, 2012 A7
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About Lindor Reynolds
Lindor Reynolds began work at the Free Press as a 17-year-old proofreader. She was fired three weeks later.
Many years later, armed with a university education, she was hired as a columnist. During 16 years on the job she has managed to avoid being sacked again.
Lindor has received considerable recognition for her writing. Her awards include the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ general interest award and the North American Travel Journalists Association award.
She has earned three nominations for the Michener Award and has been awarded a Distinguished Alumni commendation from the University of Winnipeg. Lindor was also named a YWCA Woman of Distinction.
She is married with four daughters.
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