In Hamilton Courts Starting TODAY - 62 Year Old Medical Cannabis Patient with lower lumbar degenerative disc disease, bi-polar, & Tourettes Face

??In Hamilton Courts Starting TODAY - 62 Year Old Medical Cannabis Patient?with lower lumbar degenerative disc disease,?bi-polar, &?Tourettes Faces Jury Trial

Aug 2, Hamilton

MAIN POINTS :?

Defendant MICHAEL DESROCHERS asking for media attention on this trial?

Prosecution is 11 months past the 30 months they are supposed to have - Defendant would be entitled to an 11B and potentially having?case thrown out because they took so long but Judge has decided trial first, and then they can have an 11b AFTER to determine if trial took too long - defendant points out this is not justice?

first Witness to take stand Wednesday

Defendant faces charges for possession and for providing medical cannabis to other sick people?

Previous same charges 2017,2018 dropped by crown, now facing Jury Trial

Desrochers makes the following statements to media today?:?

“ I’m 62 years old, I have lower lumbar degenerative disc disease, I am bi-polar, I have Tourettes and I cannot afford a lawyer so I am having to go through a jury trial on my own.”

?““I’ve been up on the same charges three separate times since 2017 - they dropped the charges twice - and now this time - same charges?- they have got me doing a jury trial. “

“ I have been a medical patient and a personal cannabis grower for myself and many other medical patients for 15 years.??I have given away free medicine many times, and at other times I have charged for medicine to offset costs.?I’m allowed to do that according to Health Canada.”

“I was a leading advocate in my area and other medical patients, sick people would come to me when they couldn’t access medical cannabis.?I put myself on the line to help them.?I did it publicly, it's because of people like me that medical use of cannabis became more understood and today we all agree it helps people and yet in 2022 - almost 5 years after full recreational legalization and over 20 years since we medical patients got our right to choose cannabis over pharmaceuticals, I am still being dragged through the courts, publicly smeared, persecuted.?They took the assets and now they are more interested in keeping those assets than they are in either law or justice.”

Michael is available to speak to media :