Buzzby

Pregnant Cannabis Cafe Owner Sentenced To One Year In Jail For Selling Pot
Canada.com | 01/01/2005

SAINT JOHN, N.B. (CP) - A pregnant New Brunswick woman convicted of selling marijuana for what she insisted were medicinal purposes will have to deliver her baby in jail.

Lynn Wood, 32, owner of the Cannabis Cafe in Saint John, N.B., was sentenced to one year in jail on Wednesday for trafficking in marijuana in a case that raised questions about the sale of pot to people who say it eases their pain and suffering.

Wood defended her cafe as a compassion club where people who wanted to purchase marijuana had to prove to her that they needed it for medicinal purposes.

But Provincial Court Judge Murray Cain did not buy the compassion club argument and convicted Wood of trafficking in February.

Wood's lawyer, Richard Northrup, had earlier asked the court to consider house arrest so that Wood could deliver her baby at home.

But Cain said she posed a high risk for re-offending. He said Wood will have the medical attention she needs to deliver the baby in jail.

Wood was first arrested on April 23, 2004 after selling pot to an undercover police office. On June 3, 2004 police again found her selling to customers a few doors away from her store.

Prosecutor Nicole Poirier asked for jail time because the Cannabis Cafe was located on a street used by high school students every day. She said the cafe even had a graduation promotion offering drug-smoking equipment as a prize.

Northrup said Wood is under psychiatric care as a result of her conviction and cries all the time.

Canadian courts have stopped trafficking charges in at least two cases where clubs were formed to provide medical marijuana to people who had difficulty getting the drug from other sources.

Those clubs were solely in the business of providing marijuana to people with illnesses.

Wood said she asked her customers for a doctor's note or a sworn affidavit stating that the marijuana was needed for medicinal purposes.

__________________

reggie_the_dog

"Prosecutor Nicole Poirier asked for jail time because the Cannabis Cafe was located on a street used by high school students every day. She said the cafe even had a graduation promotion offering drug-smoking equipment as a prize."

show me a street anywhere that high school students dont use on a daily baisis.

Also there was recently a panel of experts if you will in Canada that was set up by the government to tackle the "cannabis question". Their conclusion was that cannabis should be legally sold to anyone 16 or older. Had the govt. implemented the change recommended by its own panel of experts this woman would have had no problem.