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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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CN QU: Activists Stage Smoke-In For Legal Pot
ccguide Sunday 05 May 2002 Pubdate: Sun, 05 May 2002 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2002 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc. Contact: Website: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 Author: Irwin Block, Montreal Gazette ACTIVISTS STAGE SMOKE-IN FOR LEGAL POT A sweet, pungent smell filled the streets of midtown neighbourhoods yesterday. It was the odour of pot being smoked freely as hundreds of young people demonstrated for the decriminalization of marijuana. The smoke-in was one of similar events in 100 cities - from Adelaide to Zagreb - to get cannabis products off the banned list. "We'd like to end prohibition so that we can get on with our lives and no longer be treated as criminals for a simple choice of what we choose to consume," said Marc-Boris St-Maurice, 33, interim leader of the Marijuana Party, which has run candidates in federal elections. "It's a relatively harmless plant," St-Maurice argued. Alexandre Neron, 23, interim leader of the Bloc Pot, said once marijuana is no longer prohibited there should be public debate on how it should be sold. St-Maurice and Neron have been charged with drug-trafficking and possession of marijuana at the Compassion Club, a non-profit centre that provides marijuana to those suffering from certain chronic illnesses. Their cases are now before the court. About 400 men and women sat in Berri Square and smoked pot in the sunshine as taped music blared from loudspeakers on a flatbed truck. Reggae, punk and rap tunes were mixed in with 1960s Jefferson Airplane and contemporary odes to the weed by Quebec group Mononc' Serge. Many celebrants held green and white balloons with printed marijuana leaves. Montreal police were on duty in a handful of vehicles on and off the square, but did not interfere. A report issued last week by a Senate committee on illegal drugs indicated prohibition is having little impact and young Canadians are smoking in greater numbers than ever. The report estimated that 30 to 50 per cent of people age 15 to 24 have used cannabis. "We think prohibition is not an effective policy method," the committee's chairman, Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, told a press conference. Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has said decriminalization of marijuana possession is not one of his legislative priorities. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake
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