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Jail weighed for pot crusader - Defence compares grower to Mandela
By: Mike McIntyre, Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB), 10-30-04

A medical marijuana crusader who admitted to running a grow operation from his home is facing an uphill battle to stay out of jail.

The Crown is seeking one year in custody for Chris Buors, largely because he already has a prior drug conviction that netted a conditional sentence and has shown no interest in ceasing pot production.

Buors, 46, is seeking yet another conditional sentence. Queen's Bench Justice Alan MacInnes reserved his decision yesterday until Nov. 17.

MacInnes was critical of Buors' argument yesterday that he isn't a danger to society and shouldn't be locked up. The judge asked the pot activist why he should be allowed to "flout" the law which others must follow.

"You can't be a law unto yourself with impunity. At what point does he become accountable the same way every other citizen is?" said MacInnes. Defence lawyer Bonnie MacDonald pleaded for leniency on the grounds Buors was only selling marijuana to people who needed it for medicinal purposes through the "Compassion Club" he operates.

The club is one of about a dozen across the country through which people buy discounted marijuana for medical use. They cater to people with painful ailments who wouldn't normally come into contact with drug dealers, but who believe that smoking marijuana provides the only real relief from the pain they are suffering.

Buors said his club has 25 members suffering a variety of illnesses, including Crohn's disease, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and depression.

Ottawa amended federal drug laws two years ago to allow a limited number of patients suffering from such ailments to obtain a special exemption that allows them to possess marijuana for their personal use.

Several hundred across the country have since obtained the controversial exemptions, but many doctors are reluctant to prescribe marijuana for their patients, either because it remains an illegal drug or because they believe any health benefits are outweighed by the damage caused by smoking it. Only a few of the people in Buors' club have marijuana exemptions, court was told.

At one point yesterday, MacDonald compared Buors to the likes of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, who were persecuted for standing up for what they believed in.

"He is helping other people who are suffering," she said.

MacInnes scoffed at comparisons to King and Mandela and said Buors' personal beliefs about legalizing marijuana can't supercede the Criminal Code.

"Just because someone believes in capital punishment, does that mean they can go out and kill a sex offender or a murderer?" he asked MacDonald.

"I have concerns about the message (a conditional sentence) would send to law-abiding citizens of this community."

Buors remains free on bail pending the sentencing decision.