B.C. Pot Activist in Hospital over Hunger Strike

One month in, Istvan Marton has dropped about 50 lbs. and is fighting for his life in a hospital after having a heart attack.

A 69-year-old B.C. man is on a hunger strike over charges laid against him for selling marijuana to residents in an island community. Istvan "Steve" Marton, was first charged by the RCMP in January for possessing two kilograms of marijuana he had on his property on Malcom Island, just off Vancouver Island's northeast coast. Marton says he acted as a "broker", buying weed in bulk from the area's growers and selling it to mostly middle-aged residents – and never children. Last month, he started a hunger strike in protest of Canada's marijuana laws, stating that he was willing to die as a marijuana martyr. Since then, he has shed 24 kilograms of mass as he's only ingested water, juice, and clear soup. Last week, he suffered a heart attack and has been in hospital since. Marton, a Hungarian immigrant, had long been growing marijuana for medicinal and recreational purposes on Malcolm Island, and had stated that his experience living under a dictatorship in Hungary gave him a strong distrust of authority. Should Marton pass away in protest, though, he's set aside $10,000 in pot and booze for the community to consume in honour of his life.