cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Advocates Play It Straight





Marijuana Advocates Play It Straight
Posted by CN Staff on March 18, 2003 at 08:33:34 PT
By Richard Watts, Times Colonist 
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist 
"Tune in, turn on and drop out" was the drug-culture slogan of the 1960s, but today's marijuana advocates never talk about dropping out.In contrast, at the fourth annual convention Monday of Hempology 101, Victoria's most high-profile advocate group for marijuana legalization, speaker after speaker told of their battles working within the system.
They are generating publicity in the media, passing along information on the Web and working in the court system. And it's all to make their point that marijuana should not be a criminally banned substance.You could even go one step further and say today's marijuana advocates believe strongly in the system itself."We believe strongly in a civil, orderly, peaceful society," said Ted Smith, founder of Hempology 101. "We wouldn't operate from a storefront if we didn't."Smith and others with Hempology 101 have operated the Cannabis Buyers' Club of Canada, selling marijuana to people with a permanent medical condition. Customers need only show ID and a doctor's note.The club operates openly from a storefront on Johnson Street and even has an application at city hall for a business licence. However, police have busted it four times within the last year and Smith is facing several trafficking charges which he is challenging on constitutional grounds.Constitutional challenges to the marijuana law are a mainstay of the pro-marijuana movement. They are all based on reasoned, researched points argued in court."I know my way around the system," said David Malmo-Levine, who is getting set to argue his drug-charge case in front of a the Supreme Court of Canada soon."I don't want to overthrow the government. I want to over-grow the government," said Malmo-Levine, a Vancouver activist who formed the 1,800-member Harm Reduction Club for marijuana smokers.Randy Caine, who will also be taking his appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada soon, said he actually considers himself a strong advocate for the Canadian community at large. What Caine opposes is government drug policy.He said he was busted 10 years ago in White Rock for a roach, a smoked-out butt end of a marijuana cigarette. As a family man with two daughters, Caine said he didn't want to declare himself a criminal. And so began years of court appearances, appeals and challenges.Caine said nobody should regard his story as an exercise in futility."These little incremental advances have really added up," he said. "We've come a long way."Matthew Elrod, a librarian, said he lacked the courage to get himself charged and fight against Canadian marijuana laws in court. So he said he took his information management expertise to the Web and set up sites and links that allowed people to examine the issue of marijuana criminality for them-selves. "We totally dominate the Internet," said Elrod. "I've found my niche, what I can do as a humble librarian to effect change. Behind a keyboard, I'm a potent force."Monday's gathering at the Lansdowne campus of Camosun College attracted 40 to 50 people.Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)Author: Richard Watts, Times Colonist Published: Tuesday, March 18, 2003Copyright: 2003 Times ColonistContact: letters times-colonist.comWebsite: http://www.canada.com/victoria/timescolonist/Related Articles & Web Sites:Matthew M. Elrodhttp://www.drugsense.org/me/Hempology 101http://www.hempology101.com/Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmThe Catch-22 of Compassion http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15592.shtmlB.C. -- a Pot-Friendly, Pot-Profitable Provincehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15232.shtml
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