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Dope activist spared jail time

No real victims, judge tells court

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 12/22/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

A Manitoba judge has cut a break to a medical marijuana crusader found guilty of trafficking pot to numerous clients across Canada.

Grant Krieger received a suspended sentence with nine months of probation Monday -- a far cry from the jail sentence he feared he might receive and predicted would kill him.

"Mr. Krieger is not like most of the drug offenders we sentence in this court," Queen's Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg said. "While Mr. Krieger's actions were illegal, many, perhaps most, would say they are not immoral. Indeed he has no real victims."

Krieger, 54, was convicted last year of possession for the purpose of trafficking following a high-profile trial.

The Calgary resident has been battling multiple sclerosis since 1978 and says his only relief comes from smoking and ingesting cannabis.

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.

Krieger -- who started the Grant W. Krieger Cannabis Research Foundation -- testified 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 also suffer from chronic pain, disease and even terminal illness. They come to him looking to improve their quality of life. He admits selling pot to dozens of people across Canada -- including several in Manitoba, which resulted in his 2004 arrest near Headingley -- but insists there is a major difference between him and a garden-variety drug dealer.

The judge agreed.

"Mr. Krieger provided people with marijuana only where he was satisfied they suffered from a serious illness such as cancer. For example, he once turned down a person who sought his assistance for a broken arm," the judge said Monday. "While he might be considered reckless by effectively 'playing doctor,' there is no evidence that he caused anyone any harm."

The Crown's argued that although Krieger 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 system is flawed. He said most doctors are afraid to make such a declaration.

Krieger ripped the federal government for the quality of its medicinal marijuana 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.

Krieger said his pot is prime quality, especially when extracted and reduced to "cannabis butter." He denied profiting from sales, saying he's "in the red" and frequently gives away drugs to those on fixed incomes who desperately need it.

Krieger announced earlier this year he was shutting down his foundation. The move prompted the Alberta Court of Appeal to replace a four-month jail sentence, with 18 months of probation, on a similar drug charge to the one in Manitoba.

Greenberg noted Monday the federal government made it easier for those with serious medical issues to get pot since Krieger started his foundation.

www.mikeoncrime.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 22, 2009 A4

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