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School fired up over 'pot' pottery Students fashion bongs, pipes in ceramics class
Toronto Star ^ | January 22, 2003 | BETSY POWELL

Posted on 01/23/2003 11:27:21 AM PST by Damocles


Jan. 22, 2003. 12:14 PM
School fired up over 'pot' pottery
Students fashion bongs, pipes in ceramics class
Teacher rejects 'artistic freedom' argument

BETSY POWELL
STAFF REPORTER

Students at a mid-town Toronto high school say they see nothing wrong with making drug-smoking paraphernalia in ceramics class and are upset a teacher has destroyed their work.

Several Grade 12 students at Northern Secondary School say their teacher, Louise Moran, told them they are not supposed to be using the school's potter's wheels to fashion clay into pipes, water bongs or items decorated with a marijuana leaf. The issue blew up this week after she refused to fire a piece in the kiln depicting a man with a joint in his mouth and the word "pot" on his shirt, they say.

"I had 'pot' written across the shirt and she didn't like that and wouldn't accept it to be fired," Emily McIntyre, 17, said yesterday.

McIntyre and other students argue making cannabis accessories in art class is a matter of creative freedom and personal choice, especially in light of the uncertainty about the current law and the government's possible move to decriminalize possession of pot for personal use.

"She (Moran) said she could lose her job because of it, but we've decriminalized pot so I don't see how it could be a problem."

McIntyre has since changed the figure's T-shirt from "pot" to "chron," short for chronic, slang for potent weed.

While pot hasn't been decriminalized, two Ontario judges recently threw out charges of possession after finding there are no laws in Canada prohibiting possession of 30 grams or less. The decisions stem from a July, 2000 Court of Appeal ruling giving Parliament a year to amend the law, or it would be erased from the Criminal Code. Parliament has yet to change the law, but a special committee of MPs recommends decriminalizing pot.

Moran couldn't be reached for comment yesterday. But Steve MacNaughton, head of Northern's art department, said the issue is not about creative freedom. "It's not about censorship at all. It's about drugs and drug use; it's not about art at all." He declined to comment further. The principal, Bob Milne, could not be reached for comment.

Zöe Solomon, 17, said she's unhappy her clay vase, which also functioned as a bong, has disappeared. "I made this piece, I went to have it fired and it was gone," she said yesterday outside the school, located on Mt. Pleasant Rd. south of Eglinton. "I'm like: 'Ms. Moran, what happened?' And she was like, 'Oh, I think you know.'" Annie Freeman-Herbert, who has also made pot-smoking accessories in class, stressed that Solomon's piece was "incredibly well-crafted."

"My focus is artistic liberties," she continued. "It's a great class. You get to express yourself artistically, so when this girl makes something that is purely decorative, not for any criminal intent, she's expressing herself. That should be allowed."

Freeman-Herbert, who has participated in pro-pot demonstrations, said she understands the teacher's position but argues she should be more in step with the times.

Evan Bongaerts, also 17, said when he took ceramics last year there were no restrictions on what you could make.

"Of course, me and many other kids made bongs and stuff like that. We told the teacher, 'It's just a vase.' ... I think she knew but didn't care," he said.



TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: pot; saynotodrugs; wodlist
What it's just a "pot". Geez dude, chill...
1 posted on 01/23/2003 11:27:21 AM PST by Damocles
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To: Damocles
Ha. Sounds like things haven't changed much in the last 15 years.
2 posted on 01/23/2003 11:29:45 AM PST by KayEyeDoubleDee (const vector<tags>& tagsMeantForTheDustBin)
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To: Damocles
I graduated from a small high school in Indiana in 1972. The art teacher had a "stash" of ceramic artifacts like what's described in the article that filled an entire file cabinet.
3 posted on 01/23/2003 11:33:17 AM PST by bigfootbob
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4 posted on 01/23/2003 11:34:18 AM PST by Support Free Republic (Your support keeps Free Republic going strong!)
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To: Damocles
Funny, my shop teacher felt the same way about making 'silencers' too.
5 posted on 01/23/2003 11:34:55 AM PST by Hodar
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To: *Wod_list
bump
6 posted on 01/23/2003 11:39:13 AM PST by Libertarianize the GOP (Ideas have consequences)
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To: Libertarianize the GOP
*sigh* I'm afraid to ask, but--what does this have to do with the WOD?
7 posted on 01/23/2003 11:40:20 AM PST by Skooz (Tagline removed by moderator)
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To: Damocles
I thought drug related equipment was not allowed on school property. Some schools treat the equipment the same as drugs themselves, others, confiscate them and punish them as the school see fit (not calling authorities). Same goes for wearing a Bud/Joe Camel t-shirt. The teachers are right and within their boundaries of punishment when they destroy the pieces of 'art'.
8 posted on 01/23/2003 11:43:22 AM PST by cdefreese
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To: Damocles
Yup been there seen that move along nothing to see here
9 posted on 01/23/2003 11:44:57 AM PST by anobjectivist
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To: Skooz
what does this have to do with the WOD?

I figured the same people interested in discussing the war on drugs would be interested in discussing kids making drug paraphernalia in school.

10 posted on 01/23/2003 11:47:29 AM PST by Libertarianize the GOP (Ideas have consequences)
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To: cdefreese
Well, this is in Canada where they are seriously considering legalizing pot.
11 posted on 01/23/2003 11:49:10 AM PST by Damocles
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To: Libertarianize the GOP
Okay.

You are aware that I must approve of pinging all lists in advance, right? :)

12 posted on 01/23/2003 11:49:21 AM PST by Skooz (Tagline removed by moderator)
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To: Damocles
In my day paraphernalia-making was in shop class where it belongs. Dang whippersnappers...
13 posted on 01/23/2003 11:53:08 AM PST by Billthedrill
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To: KayEyeDoubleDee
Nope. Not even in the 23 years that I've been out.
14 posted on 01/23/2003 11:55:08 AM PST by Puppage
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To: KayEyeDoubleDee
Ha. Sounds like things haven't changed much in the last 15 years.

Try 25 years, I remeber kids sneaking around the shop class trying to make "paraphernalia" back in my H.S. days. But they also knew if the teacher got wind of it... destroyed, no questions asked, and he wasn't gonna be to happy.

15 posted on 01/23/2003 11:56:08 AM PST by the_devils_advocate_666
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To: Damocles
Dildoes are good, bongs are bad.
16 posted on 01/23/2003 12:53:28 PM PST by razorback-bert
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To: Hodar
LOL. You can use a soda can as a silencer from what I hear. Unlike with a silencer you don't risk a severe sentence( very very illegal unless your an army sniper, navy seal etc)
17 posted on 01/23/2003 12:55:30 PM PST by weikel (Screw the dems im tired of the lesser evil Its the greens socialist and hardcore commies from now on)
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To: Damocles
I made a bong back in shop class. Forgot to put in a carb.
It still worked, but it was a hell of a workout for the lungs. Cost me the "A", too.
18 posted on 01/23/2003 12:58:57 PM PST by Wolfie
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