cannabisnews.com: Balloons for Dagga Liberation Balloons for Dagga Liberation Posted by CN Staff on May 01, 2004 at 15:15:04 PT News Story Source: City Press Cape Town - A group of about 150 Capetonians, waving posters proclaiming "Cannabis Can Make Petrol and Paper", "Go Green" and "Grow with the Flow" marched to the gates of Parliament on Saturday afternoon calling for the legalisation of dagga. On their arrival, the marchers released a bunch of about a dozen green balloons with alien faces drawn on them; these flew over the wall and into the grounds of the parliamentary complex, where they were quickly gathered up by police. According to the organisers, the march was intended to highlight "the many uses of the plant cannabis". These included applications in the agricultural, building and health sectors. In a statement earlier this week, organiser Andre du Plessis said cannabis, known locally as dagga, "is not only about smoking". "There are more than a thousand other historically documented uses for this plant, going back thousands of years. More applications are found daily. "These go across the board, and if we tackle this issue wisely, we can help solve a lot of South Africa's social and health problems. "We cannot any longer ignore this plant, simply because of its historical association with the drug problem." Du Plessis, an IT engineer, said it was clear from television and newspaper reports there was an existing and thriving rural agricultural cannabis market in South Africa. "This market, although illegal, has been in existence for at least 15 years. I can vouch for that," he said. Two of the participants in Saturday's march tried to hand a petition - titled "The Importance of Cannabis as an Industrial Resource" - to the police at Parliament, but they refused to accept the document, saying Parliament was closed at weekends. "See, I told you we should have done this on Friday," one marcher said to the other. The marchers, two of them waving green flags with the image of the characteristic "five-finger" dagga leaf, dispersed soon after. Police were later seen trying to fit the green balloons into the back of a squad car, although it was not clear what they planned to do with them. Source: City Press (South Africa)Published: May 1, 2004Copyright: 2004 City PressContact: News citypress.co.zaWebsite: http://www.news24.com/City_Press/Home/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #10 posted by FoM on May 02, 2004 at 11:42:29 PT Thanks eco! Keep up the good work. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by eco-man on May 02, 2004 at 11:34:20 PT Dangerous 666 South Africa MMM article! :) The oh-so-dangerous Al-Jazeera article on the Cape Town, South Africa MMM is archived here: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/cannabisaction/message/999 (666 upside down!)It is also in the MMM reports archive of many MMM articles: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/mmmreports/message/61There are also many MMM reports at this forum: http://www.cannabisculture.com/forums/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=current [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Jose Melendez on May 02, 2004 at 00:33:52 PT or even . . . The recruiting and political ad campaigns they are using for DEA and ONDCP are . . backfiring. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Jose Melendez on May 02, 2004 at 00:33:21 PT also The recruitning and political ad campaigns they are using for DEA and ONDCP are . . backfiring. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by ekim on May 01, 2004 at 22:05:07 PT Who in the Gop will call W on the cannabis issue eco do you recall back a few when some courageous Canadians were put thru the ringer by the dea for growing China hemp. for use in fiber board for building strong homes, for those where hurricanes are a threat. Honduras I think it was and all the plants were burned on xmas to boot. Man a few years back was over to Chicago to march on May day. was great but I do feel am in the ground hog flick.with last weeks 100 raids in two days by kvet in Kal and W coming on mon makes me wonder what W will be saying about the jobs picture and what he has planned for the economy. How can he ignore the success of Ann Arbors ticket law in saving the taxpayers money for the last 33 years. Where is Kerry on this issue as he was here the other day. The city of Detroit will be voting on a med bill in Aug. a MI state wide bill will be introduced in late May by Sen. Clarke and Montel Williams will be supporting it in person. Where is Pres Carter he has started a seed bank in Atlanta is there Cannabis in there. Jimmy it could make great homes for Humanity. The farmers would love it -- just think this home made in USA!There is talk of companies that use lots of crude for plastics and for spreading on what's left of the soil will be moving to where the crude is. We have millions of acres of unused land where the man with the plan. http://www.minorml.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by E_Johnson on May 01, 2004 at 21:41:56 PT One conclusion one might draw It's not the best and brightest who are lining up to join the DEA. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on May 01, 2004 at 20:55:30 PT EJ I Saw That Article I don't know what to make of it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on May 01, 2004 at 20:53:10 PT Hi eco Thanks for the information. It's good to see you. I posted the Al-Jazeera article in another comment. I was very surprised they did an article. I hope someday I won't need to be afraid to post something from their paper. The way things are now with the war it scared me too much to even archive it. Someday things might be different. I can only hope. Keep up the good work. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on May 01, 2004 at 20:47:54 PT I don't know what to make of this These are the people protecting the world from pot:http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/05/01/dea.shooting.ap/index.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by eco-man on May 01, 2004 at 20:01:17 PT Al-Jazeera! Found this through Google News search: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/11C3F740-E23B-478F-A3F6-A623AF57AF67.htmIn defence of cannabis. Al-Jazeera, Qatar - 11 hours ago. "Over 600 South Africans are marching in Cape Town to call for the legalisation of cannabis and highlight its potential use in low-cost housing and medicine ..." Google News shortcuts pull up MMM articles in news media: http://news.google.com/news?q=marijuana+OR+cannabis http://news.google.com/news?q=marijuana+rally and http://news.google.com/news?q=cannabis+rally and http://news.google.com/news?q=marijuana+protest and http://news.google.com/news?q=cannabis+protest and http://news.google.com/news?q=%22Million+Marijuana+March%22 2004 MMM reports and articles archive: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/mmmreports/messages/45 MMM reports and articles archived for all years: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/mmmworld and http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/mmmreports and http://www.corporatism.netfirms.com/mmmreports.htmSend in MMM articles, reports, links, via this webform: http://corporatism.tripod.com/webform.htm or these email addresses: mmmreports-owner yahoogroups.com and mmmworld-owner yahoogroups.com [ Post Comment ] Post Comment