Referring to marijuana as a "natural, organic, God-given crop" a Harrop man argued before a B.C. Provincial Court Judge Tuesday that narcotic charges against him violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Acting in his own defence Paul Defelice said the Narcotics Control Act offended numerous rights guaranteed citizens of Canada under the Charter and therefore the charge against him was unlawful.

It's been two years since Defelice was arrested and charged with possession of pot following a police search at his residence. Ironically it was DeFelice's roommate who called the RCMP to the house. He thought the house was being broke into. It was during this investigation the police found the pot.

This was not DeFelice's first appearance on charges arising out of the incident. The situation became more complex when police charged him for failing to appear at a police station to have his finger prints taken following his original arrest.

He's argued adamantly since then that the Narcotics Control Act is unlawful and therefore he was not obliged to accommodate the police by being finger-printed. Defelice has kept up his defence even after the original possession charge was stayed following his roommate admitting the pot was his.

So far Defelice has appeared 13 times on the failure to appear charge.

In his last appearance he argued that the police search of his house infringed on his rights to be secure in his own home. The police had no justifiable reason for the intrusion he said. "There was no victim and no urgency to the situation, other than just some marijuana being in the house." Defelice maintained that he should be able to do what he wants in the privacy of his own home if it harms no one. In fact he suggested marijuana might be good for him and the law's preventing him from using it was a violation of rights to take care of himself in a manner he sees fit.

"It's probably worse for you to be put in jail or go to court rather than to use pot," Defelice told the court.

He also insisted that the Act discriminated against freedom of religion since pot for some could be considered a sacrament. He added that the prosecution had warned him not to associate with known pot users which he said was an infringement of his Charter rights to choose his own friends and associates.

Defelice went on to say that society would not come apart at the seams if pot were legalized.

He argued that the legal system was out of touch with current values regarding pot. "To say that there is no culture of cannabis use in this country is being wilfully blind to the facts," Defelice said.