Posted on 08/25/2003 11:01:32 AM PDT by Wolfie
Pot Advocate To Light Up at Police Station Today
Canada’s Prince of Pot says he dares Kingston Police officers to try to seize his marijuana when he smokes weed outside police headquarters this afternoon. Marc Emery, the president of the British Columbia Marijuana Party and the country’s most prominent pot activist, will light a joint or smoke a bong – he hasn’t decided which – at 4:20 p.m. to protest Kingston Police’s policy of taking marijuana from anyone caught with less than 30 grams.
“They have no right to do that. I don’t know how they can get it out of someone’s fingers,” Emery told The Whig from his home in downtown Vancouver.
“I’m looking forward to seeing them try that.”
Since May 16, when an Ontario Superior Court judge upheld a lower court decision to quash a charge against a youth for simple possession of marijuana, Kingston Police and police across the province have changed the way they deal with simple possession.
People caught with under 30 grams haven’t been charged, but officers have been instructed to confiscate the pot.
Pot smokers across the country have decried the policy, arguing that if the court says marijuana is legal, police shouldn’t touch it.
“It’s completely lawful, like tomatoes or lettuce,” Emery said.
Emery will give a speech starting at 4 p.m. and spark up at exactly 4:20 p.m., a time pot smokers recognize as a daily ritual to get high.
Kingston Police spokesman Mike Weaver said officers will be at the protest but he didn’t know if they will take Emery’s pot. “We’ll wait and see what happens. I can’t predict what will happen.”
Emery said he won’t be confrontational and won’t get physical if an officer reaches out to take his weed.
But he did promise to spark up again.
“I will light up again if they’re going to take it and they’re going to have to take it repeatedly. They’re going to look pretty foolish if they do.”
Kingston is one of many cities Emery has been visiting this summer for similar protests.
In June, the 45-year-old got high outside Toronto Police headquarters after Chief Julian Fantino announced that, in lieu of the May court ruling, his officers won’t lay charges but will seize marijuana.
The Toronto protest inspired Emery’s Cross-Canada Police Headquarters Smoke-Out, a planned 16-city tour.
He has been arrested in six cities. In Winnipeg he was held for 24 hours and brought before a judge in handcuffs and leg shackles, where he was nearly denied bail, he said.
In Halifax and Charlottetown, which are in provinces where the courts have ruled that marijuana laws are no longer valid, he was allowed to puff away.
Officers also let him pass around a joint in Prince George, B.C., a few weeks ago.
Kingston is one of the smaller cities on his tour, but he said he chose the Limestone City because of the police stance on seizing weed.
Insp. Brian Cookman has said the reason police are confiscating the drug is because it’s still outlawed in the Criminal Code of Canada.
But Emery accused Kingston Police of being political. By seizing people’s marijuana, police are defying the court ruling and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“If the court says it’s legal, the police should say ‘That’s fine.’ ”
Officers don’t arrest people for their sexual preferences or religious preferences, so they shouldn’t arrest someone for the lifestyle choice of getting stoned, Emery said.
“They’re so in need of the drug war. It’s like an addiction to them. It validates all the useless arrests made by police officers. It’s so sick,” he said.
Emery is also the publisher of a magazine called Cannabis Culture and runs a mail-order service for marijuana seeds called Marc Emery Direct Seeds.
The business, which offers customers a variety of seed strains ranging in price from $20 to $395, grossed $2 million last year, Emery said.
He’s been raided by police numerous times – he has 22 pot-related convictions – but the seed-ordering business has gone untouched for some time, he said.
He keeps no records of his clients – tearing up documentation within minutes of processing it – and keeps his inventory at an undisclosed location.
Though he’s best known for his activism on marijuana, Emery has fought lawmakers and law enforcers on a number of civil rights issues, especially censorship.
As the owner of City Lights, a book shop in London, Ont., Emery was often in court for selling material that had been outlawed.
In the early 1990s, when record shop owners were banned from selling an album by 2 Live Crew, a rap group whose lyrics were deemed too obscene, Emery stocked his shelves with the disc in protest and was quickly arrested.
He is currently mounting legal challenges in the cities where he has been arrested on his tour.
He hopes to invoke a challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, citing the May court ruling in Ontario, forcing the courts in each province where he was arrested to review their respective pot laws.
In each city he has tried to use a bong with a symbol or emblem that is representative of that city, such as a hockey team logo.
As of Friday, he hadn’t found a suitable one for Kingston.
“I’m not sure if there’s a bong out there that’s in the shape of a penitentiary,” he said.
Ack, I can't believe I missed that in the article. My eyes are glazing over from too little sleep last night, I guess.
I'm glad they're ignoring him AND that they're not wasting their time on small-time pot smokers.
Hey some "news" has to be announced about Canada.
So be it that the "news" from Cnanda is Nancy Pelosi's personal political dream.
Gotta give her something to hope for.
George Soros is our king, Ayn Rand is our queen, this dude is our prince, and Anna Kournakova is our princess.
Huh it looks like you are well on your towardss your dream of the soverieign state of "Cannabisda". :^)
Especially with the Liberals such as Chretien and Martin in the drivers seat.
Gotta give her something to hope for.
Hey, she is the highest ranking official in the democrat party you are a member of presently. You should want to make her happy.
You know the FR rule is that if someone mentions AK to you, you have to post a picture of her. You're not an anarcho-libertarian now, are you?
Your CV is near the top of the pile, Dane. ;^)
Nah the ultimate candidate should be a native born maple leafer him or herself.
Hey, I have an idea, how about the self-proclaimed prince of pot.
Perfect symbol for the present Liberal/Socialist blight in Cannabisda.
Huh, do I give monetary donations to her or her party. The answer is no. But unfortunately in local elections in the area that I live for one to have a voice one in local elections one has to register dem, which I did.
Did I like it, no I didn't, but I surveyed the local political scene and made my choice. When I lived in other states such as Ohio and Florida, I registered Republican, since there was a competitive Republican party.
Oh yeah when it comes to general elections, such as gubernatorial, US House, Senate, and Presidential elections my voting recod is 100% Repubican.
But what the hey doggie 12, your knee jerk reactions gives you some knee jerk satisfaction.
Huh, do I give monetary donations to her or her party. The answer is no. But unfortunately in local elections in the area that I live for one to have a voice one in local elections one has to register dem, which I did.
Did I like it, no I didn't, but I surveyed the local political scene and made my choice. When I lived in other states such as Ohio and Florida, I registered Republican, since there was a competitive Republican party.
Oh yeah when it comes to general elections, such as gubernatorial, US House, Senate, and Presidential elections my voting recod is 100% Repubican.
But what the hey doggie 12, your knee jerk reactions gives you some knee jerk satisfaction.
I voted for one and left the other one blank.
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