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  Medical Marijuana Exemptee Jailed Again
Posted by FoM on April 24, 2002 at 08:56:33 PT
By Ben Rutledge, The Independent  
Source: Independent Online  

medical Diane Bruce was arrested by Northumberland OPP officers Monday morning when she reported for her weekly "sign in," one of her current bail conditions. Her lawyer, David McCaskill, told a reporter from The Independent that Bruce was arrested for "breaching the terms of her recognizance."

Bruce made headlines last October when Kawartha Combined Forces Drug Squad officers raided her Cramahe Township home about a week after this newspaper printed a feature story about the medical use of marijuana.

The story outlined Bruce's attempt to operate Lady Dyz Helping Hands, founded by her to provide free marijuana to more than 40 people given Health Canada's permission to possess and use the herb.

After last year's bust, Bruce spent nine days in the Whitby jail waiting for a bail hearing. Suffering from fibromyalgia, intestinal illnesses, and neck and back injuries, Bruce was allowed only an occasional aspirin to ease her pain during that time in jail.

Steven Bacon, one of Canada's first medical marijuana exemptees, has supported Bruce throughout her ordeal. In a telephone interview, Bacon said Diane was arrested April 22 "because she signed in on Tuesday last week instead of Monday, even though her doctor had written a letter explaining why."

Bruce told a reporter recently that she was suffering because she had no legal access to marijuana locally. Exemptees in British Columbia had offered her some of their medicine, but because they would not send marijuana through the mail, Bruce would arrange to travel to that province to pick it up, she said.

According to McCaskill, Bruce travelled to B.C. as per her plan, but "flight complications" delayed her return to Ontario until Tuesday, April 16.

"I understand that Bruce went straight to the Cobourg OPP office from the airport and signed in," McCaskill said. "She said she had a great conversation with officers there."

McCaskill said Bruce was arrested when "signing in as normally required" on Monday. Bacon notified him of her arrest immediately, but by the time he contacted officials in Cobourg, Justice of the Peace P. McHenry had ordered her jailed pending another bail hearing, slated for April 24.

"I'm not sure what they're trying to prove here," McCaskill said. "I'm told the OPP even phoned Diane's doctor last week, and he confirmed she was out-of-province for medical reasons."

"It certainly sounds like sour grapes to me," he said. "This is a small technical breech at best."

McCaskill was alluding to confirmed reports that show OPP officers visited Bruce's marijuana garden up to six months before the October raid. A reporter from The Independent viewed a photograph of one uniformed OPP officer standing in shoulder-high marijuana plants at Bruce's property in September.

Bruce has said repeatedly she was growing marijuana only for people exempted under Section 56 of Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and that she was "doing nothing wrong."

"I even asked police officers to sit on (Lady Dyz) board of directors," she said during an earlier interview. "I figured if the cops knew all along that I was growing marijuana, and didn't say anything, then I was okay."

Calls to Cobourg OPP officer Doug Lewis, who was in charge of Bruce's arrest this week, were not returned.

OPP Detective Constable John Murphy, who has been mentioned in earlier stories about Bruce's marijuana bust, said he was "no longer involved in the case," but believed Bruce was arrested because "she was out on a recognizance and failed to sign in at the appropriate time."

Bacon said he attended court in Cobourg on Monday "to speak for Diane," but was told by an OPP officer to "shut the hell up because I was this close to being arrested myself." He said he witnessed Bruce "bent double in pain" as she was being led away to jail.

"This woman is too sick to be sitting in jail without medication," Bacon said. "This goes on all the time, and police get away with it because they always see criminals instead of sick people with exemptions."

Source: Independent Online (CN)
Author: Ben Rutledge, The Independent
Published: April 24, 2002
Copyright 1998--2001, Conolly Publishing Ltd.
Contact: letters@eastnorthumberland.com
Website: http://www.eastnorthumberland.com/

Related Articles & Web Site:

Canadian Links
http://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htm

Handcuffed by Pot Law
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11148.shtml

The Suffering Few Who Legally Possess Marijuana
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11135.shtml


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Comment #3 posted by Jose Melendez on April 25, 2002 at 05:23:31 PT:

Last night on PBS, CBS
I just watched a Frontline special on terrorists. Apparently, Immigration Canada released an Algerian who admitted his papers were false, and that he had been accused of arms sales and other nasty stuff...

Yet they busted some potheads with legitimate documentation of a need for asylum.

In his monologue, Dave Letterman said there is a drought in New York, mentioned prohibitions on water consumption. I perked up at the P word, sure enough, the next line was that Mayor Mike Bloomberg had seen mirages, but that was probably caused by... too much weed!

(grin)

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Comment #2 posted by idbsne1 on April 24, 2002 at 14:30:22 PT
What's wrong with these people, God?
These bastards did the same thing to Steven Tuck and Steven Kubby....

After the media explained their cause, the LEO's rounded them up... and then even worse, tortured them while they were being held. Medication wasn't given, nor was common courtesy to another HUMAN. THESE LEO bastards are the animals....

You know, the rest of the world is figuring it out...US allies are distancing themselves from the US and it's support for Israel....they are also severing their dependency on US Drug War "logic"....the US Government is LOSING... and they know it... the problem is the STUPID US mentality of "never giving up"...they will torture as many people as they can...all in the name of "saving our children"....just like in the name of "national security"...

Stupid, ignorant, arrogant, self-righteous Amerikans believe they are being "protected". As was said in the West Wing....historically, it has always been their GOVERNMENT that people should be afraid of....

idbsne1

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #1 posted by JHarshaw on April 24, 2002 at 14:03:19 PT
Ignore the man Behind the Curtain
So I wonder, who put pressure on whom?

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