Crown drops some charges against Sask. Compassion Club members

The Crown has dropped some of the charges in the case against four members of the Saskatchewan Compassion Club, the group that set up a medical marijuana dispensary in Saskatoon.

Infall, police raided the dispensary after founder Mark Hauk was warnedthe club would be closed down if it was found to be breaking the law.

In September, Health Canada sent letters to 13 dispensaries across the country, including two in Saskatchewan, warning that business owners face a possible $5million fine and up to two years in prison if they stay open.

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Hauk, two women, and Lane Britnell were arrested in October. What became clear in the subsequent investigation, however, is that some of the drug charges were unwarranted in light of a decision by the Supreme Court that came down in advance of the raid.

"It was not illegal for the defendants at the time of the incident to be in possession of the marijuana derivatives because we've confirmed that they all have valid medical marijuana authorization," Crown prosecutor Janelle Khansaid.

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Those charges were dropped today in provincial court.

Britnell says he has lost faith in police

Britnell,a trainer at Freedom Fitness in Saskatoon,said it's been a battle getting to thispoint. He was a national champion track athlete before Crohn's disease began to severely impact his life.

"The symptoms are there and it's a little embarrassing to talk about, but anyone who's dealt with perianal abscess or Crohn's disease or anything like that knows how seriously painful it is," Britnell said.

He said the pain was subsided by using medicinal marijuana and it changed his life. Moved by his own experience, Britnell became an employee at the Compassion Club.

He was facing 10 drug related charges until six charges were dropped today.

"I've lost a lot of faith in police, who I once thought were protecting and serving us," Britnell said.

"They knowingly took medicine from sick people, after seeing my prescription card, after seeing one of the other's accused prescription card, and taking her medicine out of her purse. I don't have a lot of faith in police anymore."

All four arrested still face four criminal charges relating to trafficking dried marijuana and possession of the proceeds of crime.

Britnell said the dropped charges are still a huge relief and big step towards justice.

Other drug charges will proceed

A variety of drug charges against the compassion club four will proceed despite Prime Minister JustinTrudeau's plan to legalize andregulatemarijuana.

The reason, Khan said, is that despite all the suspects having valid medical permits to consume, they allegedly do not possess the legal authority needed to distribute. All charges relating to dried marijuana still exist.

The accused will be back in court in the coming weeks.