Prince of pot plans protest (in London, Ont.)

London Free Press ^ | August 26, 2003 | Carolyn Wong

[jodorowsky]

Marc Emery, former London pot activist and bookstore owner, is coming home today to light up at a familiar place -- the steps of the London police station. Emery, now of Vancouver, grabbed headlines in the 1990s with unsuccessful stunts to get arrested for smoking pot and selling books on illegal drugs in front of the police station.

Today, the ex-owner of City Lights bookstore plans to smoke up as part of his Summer of Legalization tour, says Cannabis Culture, a magazine he publishes.

But with the law on pot possession now hazy, it's likely Emery won't be busted.

"Simple possession is not an offence, so we can't do anything," London police Const. Paul Martin said yesterday.

Known as the "prince of pot" in Vancouver, Emery was charged in Calgary and Edmonton this month, according to Cannabis Culture.

In June, he led a smoke-in outside Toronto police headquarters after Ontario's top court ruled it would not overturn a precedent-setting ruling clearing a teen of pot possession charges.

As a result, police forces in Ontario said they won't lay charges for possessing less than 30 grams of marijuana until laws are clarified.

No action is planned against Emery, said Martin, who called the activist's plan an "in-your-face" antic.

"Is he coming back to London because of his years of battle?" asked Martin. "If that's his purpose, he's not going to get the reaction he's looking for."

Emery, who owned City Lights for 17 years, has a long history of activism, including in favour of Sunday shopping and against censorship.

Emery could not be reached yesterday. But Jim Capel, co-owner of City Lights, supports his former boss. "(Emery) likes to call himself a freedom fighter," he said. "This is another one of the tenets he believes in -- sometimes laws have to be broken to change them."

[jodorowsky]

This should be fun ;)

[jodorowsky]

They don't say in the crappy local paper, but I assume it's at 4:20 ;)

[bigfootbob]

This guy doesn't need a jock strap :o

[MrLeRoy]

No action is planned against Emery, said Martin, who called the activist's plan an "in-your-face" antic.

Emery wins either way. Good for him!

[Wolfie]

[jmc813]

WOD Ping

[kidd]

...In a related story...Fred Rasmussen, also a resident of London Ontario, was heard to whisper, "I'll bet he's gay - just look at the tee shirt". Rasmussen, 31, was immediately jumped on by three nearby police officers who overheard him utter the hate-crime slur. Ramussen was charged with violating Canada's hate-speech laws and could face up to five years in prison.

Jim Capel, co-owner of City Lights, spoke out against Rasmussen. "How can Canada ever have freedom if people like Fred Rasmussen are allowed to speak their minds?" he said. This is another one of the tenets he believes in -- sometimes socialism isn't pretty.

[Wolfie]

Try breaking the pills in half.

[kidd]

You'll never make me a Libertarian unless I use the whole pill...

[jodorowsky]

Jim Capel, co-owner of City Lights, spoke out against Rasmussen. "How can Canada ever have freedom if people like Fred Rasmussen are allowed to speak their minds?" he said. This is another one of the tenets he believes in -- sometimes socialism isn't pretty.

I just went downstairs to verify this quote, but Jimmy wasn't in.

Somehow, I think you're making stuff up to distract people from reality.

I'd hate to accuse you of that, but after all it's right out of the typical WoD socialist playbook.

Why don't you stick to complaining about the five hundred million Americans without health insurance like you usually do?

[Wolfie]

Interesting dichotomy. Bitching about government controls on what comes out of a person's mouth while supporting government controls on what goes in.

[society-by-contract]

4:20

[kidd]

Somehow, I think you're making stuff up to distract people from reality.

(psst. Buddy. Of course I made it up. The rest of us know that. You see, I'm making a point; I could have just said "Just because Canada has ambiguous recreational drug laws doesn't make it a shining example of government - free speech is not guaranteed there" - but that would have been boring.)

[kidd]

Most excellent. Wolfie, the "Libertarian", supports Canadian thought control!! LOL!

Hypocrite.

[Wolfie]

Not at all. I was pointing out your hypocrisy. (But then you knew that, didn't you?)

[kidd]

Where have I supported controls on what goes in?

[kidd]

...if FreeRepublic had sound effects, you might hear crickets now...

[Wolfie]

Maybe I jumped to the wrong conclusion. My apologies.

[Wolfie]

I should also add, just to be clear, that I do not support "Canadian thought control", nor its American equivalent of hate crime laws in the U.S.

[kidd]

My problem with you Libertarians is that you have absolutely NO sense of reality. You are (mostly) correct in making the point that recreational drugs should have never been prohibited - but the cold hard reality is that they have indeed been prohibited. You can't put the genie back in the bottle. There are a myriad of problems associated with instant legalization, but virtually none of you want to consider them. Some of you go around pretending that recreational drugs are benign, others go so far as to cite tobacco and alcohol as shinning examples of recreational drugs that are legal.

But the ones that really piss me off are the Libertarians, mind you the very same Libertarians who call me a socialist as an insult, who proudly support the wonderful socialist utopias of Canada and the Netherlands and their wonderful socialized medical programs and their wonderful socilized thought control - all because they let a few dopers carry around a gram or two.

The idiot in this article is considered a hero by Libertarians, yet he probably does more harm to the cause of freedom by demonstrating the liscenciousness that comes with instant legalization with his in-your-face attitude. If he wanted to demonstrate how glad he was that he could smoke a joint, he should have simply invited some friends over to his house to show that pot can be a normal part of society.