WINNIPEG (Montreal Gazette) — A Manitoba judge has cut a major break to a medical marijuana crusader found guilty of trafficking pot 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,” said Queen’s Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg. “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 that made headlines across Canada. The Calgary resident has been battling progressive multiple sclerosis since 1978 and said his only relief comes from smoking and ingesting cannabis.
Krieger said his many customers are in a similar position — they are suffering from chronic pain, disease and even terminal illness and have come to him looking to improve their quality of life. He admits selling pot to dozens of people across Canada, but insisted there is a major difference between him and the garden-variety drug dealer.
If Mr. Krieger were in the United States, Judge Greenberg would not have the latitude to impose such an empathetic sentence. Thanks to the mandatory minimum sentencing laws, not only would Mr. Krieger be subject to a fixed sentence in federal prison, he would have been forbidden from mentioning his medical use of marijuana at trial.
