Pubdate: Sun, 06 May 2001 Source: Winnipeg Sun (CN MB) Copyright: 2001 Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: http://www.canoe.ca/WinnipegSun/home.html Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/503 Author: Tammy Marlowe 'FREE THE WEED' Pot Smokers Rally For Legalization Smokers of the ganja, unite! Yesterday afternoon, close to 200 people sat cross-legged in small groups on the grounds of the Manitoba Legislature, happily smoking weed and vivaciously debating the ills of a system which doesn't allow this sort of thing to take place every day. "It doesn't make a lot of sense to me that, in Canada, it's OK if you want to drink yourself into a stupor every night, and it's OK if you want to drink yourself into a rage every night -- but you can't sit in your own back yard and smoke a joint," said a 49-year-old woman who didn't want to be named out of concern for her job. "You don't read about people smoking a joint and beating their wife." The 4th annual "Parasites of Prohibition" rally brought together Winnipeggers of different backgrounds in support of the decriminalization of marijuana for purposes of pain and stress relief. While some people smoked up in the sunshine, others bounced around hacky sacks or listened to longtime activist Chris Buors appealing through a microphone for solidarity and action. Prairie Dawn, a 27-year-old herbalist, and her four-year-old daughter Lavender sunk a sign into the soil of a Legislature grounds flower garden which read, "God made marijuana, God made me, God bless marijuana, God bless me! Free the weed!" Although governments in a few other countries such The Netherlands and Jamaica have embraced the weed, Dawn said she thinks it's going to take a lot more to convince the Western World of its healing powers. "This society is still run by the white, upper-middle class," said Dawn. "They're not familiar with marijuana as a social drug, so they're afraid of it. I don't think there's anything wrong with people using one of the most powerful medicines there are." NO ROWDY BEHAVIOUR Benn Epe, 32, pointed out that after more than an hour, none of the people in attendance had become rowdy -- a good example of what he believes to be one of the drug's strongest elements. "We have a society where we have all of these other freedoms," Epe said. "As long as you're not hurting anybody ..." Some passersby were a bit put off by the gathering as they walked their dogs or enjoyed the sunny weather nearby. One man, arriving with a wedding party to take photographs inside the Legislative Building, walked up the grand outdoor staircase and quietly responded to a little girl's question about who all the people on the grass were. "They're freaks." - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D