cannabisnews.com: Pot Smoker Not Bothered About Breaking The Law





Pot Smoker Not Bothered About Breaking The Law
Posted by CN Staff on May 23, 2003 at 08:27:07 PT
By Yvonne Zacharias, Vancouver Sun 
Source: Vancouver Sun 
It's 10 a.m. and the pungent odor of pot lingers around the headquarters of the Marijuana Party on West Hastings Street. It doesn't take a sleuth to know the law is being broken here. Check out the law books. It is still an offence in Canada to possess and smoke marijuana. Yet no police hover nearby ready to swoop. Inside sits 40-year-old Chris Bennett. He is content. He has already had a joint with his morning coffee.
"To tell you the truth, I have much more of a problem dealing with coffee in my life than I have ever had dealing with marijuana," he chats affably, while his 11-month-old son, Shiva, crawls around nearby. His wife, Renee Boje, keeps a watchful eye on the bright-eyed little boy. She knows all too well the consequences of straying on the wrong side of the law. She faces 10 years in prison in the U.S. for aiding a medical growing operation in California. But now she has refugee status in Canada, the land of the benign, turn-a-blind-eye approach to all but major marijuana trafficking offences. Bennett doesn't mind giving his name or having his photo taken. "There is a situation of de facto decriminalization here in Vancouver," he says confidently. If police catch you with a small stash, "generally, they just throw it away and don't bother charging you because it's not worth clogging the court system."He has been smoking pot for 28 years. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/bennett.htm  Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)Author: Yvonne Zacharias, Vancouver Sun Published: Friday, May 23, 2003Copyright: 2003 Vancouver Sun Contact: sunletters pacpress.southam.caWebsite: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/Related Articles & Web Sites:Pot-TVhttp://www.pot-tv.net/Renee Boje's Home Pagehttp://www.reneeboje.com/Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmDon't Bully Canada, U.S. Toldhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16336.shtmlDrug Refugees - Report Newsmagazinehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13224.shtmlMedical Marijuana Users Take Refuge in Canadahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12972.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by ekim on May 23, 2003 at 18:59:03 PT
thanks for flashback Virgil -- Prof. Heicklen
Dr. Heicklen standing in the front of the main gates at PSU protesting the drug war. Through rain, sleet, or snow you know,
EVERY THURSDAY AT HIGH NOON (12 p.m.) in front of the main gates of PSU
There will be citizens of Pennsylvania protesting the ridiculous drug lawsa mighty freedom fighter indeed the good DR. Heicklen ---does anyone know what has become of him -- wishing you well and best thoughts for your safe keeping you are the man Dr. Heicklen. 
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Comment #4 posted by malleus2 on May 23, 2003 at 11:49:55 PT
The disconnect couldn't be more jarring
Picture an intelligent, smiling, happy couple, their well-behaved, playful son zipped up in a cute little bear (or rabbit, I couldn't be sure) suit and crawling about the floor of a large but welcoming commercial area. His petite mother resembles nothing less than a "Lord of the Rings" Elf, her features are so finely drawn as to tempt one to look for pointed ears. The proud poppa is working the computers in the back, but always has time to talk to the curious. The parents are simultaneously and intently keeping an eye on their son while chatting with other parents, young people, old farts like me, guests and customers inside a well-lit store. People from all over the planet (there's TWO Mercator maps on one wall, with North America covered in stickpins, that show the various places where the customers hail from; every habitable coninent on Earth is represented by several pins) but mainly Americans, are jovially milling about, enjoying each other's company, leafing through the books arranged along one wall, trading information and making connections. You might see the same thing happening dozens of times a day in your own home town. Like, your local health food store that sells dried herbs, for example. For the thrust of the store is decidely 'health' oriented...and not just physical well being but political health as well is a major topic of discussion. As a fancy bong with the Vancouver Canuck's symbol makes its rounds, powered by some great bud. To say everyone was mellow and getting along is to stress the obvious.The couple are genuinely nice and decent folks whose affection for each other is obvious. Their kid is a typical bundle of irrepressible energy that is very quick to smile back. A lovely picture, no?One the federal government of this country wants to totally, viciously destroy by stamping it's jackboot in their faces. It's monomaniacally intent upon incarcerating the mother in a prison for 10 years for purportedly watering some MMJ plants for sick people. It wants to crush the spirit of this woman, rend her family apart (as so many have been) and brutally tear the child from his mother and devastate the father, who would have to explain to his son that the reason he can't be with her is because she's in prison being raped with a broomhandle.If anything illustrates the tragedy of the whole War on Drugs, it's the Boje situation. It's to look at this devoted couple and their happy child and know the USG would just as soon see them *dead*. The minions of law enforcement are so drooling, mad-dog focused on wrecking their lives she can't go near the border, for fear some snatch squad might get her. So long as there's an American War on Drugs, she cannot ever go home again.All done for 'the children'. I doubt the children will thank their self-appointed saviors for creating the fascist dictatorship which the Frankensteinian War on Drugs/War on Terror mutant hybrid will require of America.For me, I'd rather have the company of the people in that store. They are lots nicer...
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Comment #3 posted by Virgil on May 23, 2003 at 09:50:52 PT
I was wrong
The #1000 article will multiply itself using the number 1000. There is a 1001 at the bottom of the link in comment1. It appeared March 31, 1999 with this opening paragraph in an article titled "Marijuana Smoke Out"- http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread1001.shtmlThe Marijuana Smoke Outs have been a weekly declaration of our dismay over the drug war. For over a year now several citizens from State College, PA have banned together to protest the government's infringement on the rights of the citizens. It started with Marijuana. Now the focus is on a bullhorn and the infringement of rights has shifted to our right to speech! 
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on May 23, 2003 at 09:35:52 PT
Virgil
We sure started out rough but as time went by we learned and look where we are now. There is much more to do but look how far we've come! 
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Comment #1 posted by Virgil on May 23, 2003 at 09:20:13 PT
As the dominoes fall
It is surprizing that the Court ruling saying there are no cannabis possession laws in Canada is absent at this date.Anyway,it seems that the first article archived at Cnews is 1000 and it is recorded maybe 30 times to go back to 1000. So 1031- http://www.cannabisnews.com/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/cnews/newsread.pl?1030 - from High Times really starts the Cnews train on April 6, 1999. FoM has been doing this everyday for over 4 years. "Has it really been that long?" thinks FoM.CLINTON DRUG CZAR RATTLES HANDCUFFS AT CALIFORNIA AG
It was no April Fool's prank. General Barry McCaffrey of the White House Drug Control office genuinely threatened to personally arrest the Attorney General of the state of California last month on "narcotics distribution" charges, during an argument over medical marijuana. 
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