Pubdate: Mon, 11 May 2009
Source: Other Press, The (CN BC Edu)
Copyright: 2009 The Other Press
Contact:  http://www.theotherpress.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2684
Author: Liam Britten
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/people/Malmo David Malmo-Levine
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?196 (Emery, Marc)

HERB SCHOOL'S IN SESSION

No matter what your stance on marijuana prohibition, you have to hand 
it to the pro-legalization crowd: they certainly make Canadian 
politics more interesting.

This is a movement known for wild, party-like rallies and 
larger-than-life personalities like the "Prince of Pot," Marc Emery. 
It is an unusual movement still looking for a clear identity, a group 
usually espousing don't-tread-on-me libertarian values yet is 
politically linked to social democrats and environmentalists. It's an 
often-contradictory movement, one that can often seem confrontational 
and abrasive to the uninitiated and one that sometimes skirts the 
line between activism and punch line.

But while Marc Emery revelled in the spotlight of being the Prince of 
Pot and the Marijuana Party tried to work within the system to 
achieve decriminalization, a different group of activists were 
busying themselves in the Downtown Eastside, generating awareness, 
giving tours and selling art. They had a grassroots approach to their 
campaign for legalization and from 2004 until a police raid in 2008, 
the School of Drug War History and Organic Cultivation fought against 
laws they felt were unjust by educating the public.

The School of Drug War History and Organic Cultivation, known as "The 
Herb School" to the activists who worked there, was located on the 
100-block of East Hastings, right next door to where Insite sits 
today. The School was started as a place to educate about the 
politics of the Drug War, educate drug users about harm reduction and 
safety and to fundraise for pro-legalization events. The School 
became well-known for their hour-long Tours of Drug War History that 
presented locations around Downtown Vancouver key to Vancouver's own 
involvement with the Drug War; opium tunnels under Chinatown, the 
Marijuana Party bookstore and the site of 1971's Gastown Riots. The 
by-donations tours were well attended and showed guests from Canada 
and around the world a side of Vancouver that most Vancouverites 
might not even know about.

Owen Taylor, 22, was a regular fixture at the School during its 
four-year existence. To this day, he is still proud of the education 
and harm reduction work done there.

"It was really a great little community," Taylor told The Other 
Press. "Everyone was really open with each other, and not one time 
did we have a violent incident where we needed to call the police."

But the police came anyway. In the summer and fall of 2007, the 
police who used to walk by with "a nod and a smile" changed their 
attitude. Taylor described their behaviour as "intimidating" and 
"aggressive." He recalled one incident where a police officer tried 
to physically force herself into the Herb School building uninvited 
and without a warrant.

"They didn't like what we were saying and they didn't like what we 
stood for," Taylor said of the police. "We would teach about the 
many, many, many uses of cannabis, not just medical but social, 
economic uses... They basically just wanted to shut us up."

Perhaps the Herb School was something of an easy target for the 
police. Unlike the upscale bong shops like Puff's and Cottonmouth 
Smoke Shop that Taylor says "don't stand for shit," the Herb School 
was visible. They had an agenda. They held rallies. They wore vests 
that said "More Dead Cops." And on February 20th, 2008, it all came to a head.

The Vancouver Police Department executed a search warrant for the 
premises, and arrested five men who were at the School at the time: 
Owen Taylor, Adam Walker, Martin Milner, James Cunningham and David 
Malmo-Levine. The police also found a small scale, several empty 
baggies and $60 worth of marijuana. The five were held by the VPD 
overnight and charged with a variety of offences, including trafficking.

One of the arrested, David Malmo-Levine, 37, is no stranger to the 
heavy hand of the law. In 2003, Malmo-Levine went before the Supreme 
Court of Canada after his "Harm Reduction Club," which distributed 
marijuana at cost, was raided in 1996. When his case reached the 
Supreme Court, he challenged the legality of Canada's narcotics laws, 
arguing that the Constitution only permits the existence of criminal 
laws that prevent harm, and laws that don't meet this "harm 
principle" should be struck down. Ultimately, the Court disagreed.

But Malmo-Levine is about to have another chance to present his case 
about the illegality of marijuana laws in court. He plead guilty to 
all the charges against the Herb School defendants (except for a 
charge of morphine distribution, one he said police "invented"), and 
now has a plan to debate the Constitution with the Supreme Court.

For Taylor, however, this means he and the rest of his co-defendants 
will avoid a potentially risky trial.

"David wanted us all to plead not guilty and fight it," Taylor said, 
explaining that Malmo-Levine wanted his co-defendants to join him in 
his challenge of narcotics laws. "[Prosecutors] had this deal; David 
pleads guilty and the rest of us walk. And he said, 'If any single 
one of you wants to take this deal, I'll take it...' And I said, 
'Please, let's do that,' and I kind of feel shitty about it. It's 
better for everyone in the long run, but it's not good for his cause."

"He's not a bad guy, he's trying to teach people and help them," Taylor added.

Malmo-Levine revealed his legal strategy in an interview, and to say 
the least, it seems somewhat roundabout. He plans on citing genocide 
laws, international treaties, the government's own reports on 
marijuana legalization and questioning the definition of medical 
marijuana to get the change he seeks. His sentencing hearing begins 
May 20th, and he's got hope; he thinks attitudes towards marijuana 
have changed in the six years since he was on trial.

"Understanding of how harmless [pot] is is becoming more 
sophisticated, people are getting a better understanding of the facts 
around the debate," Malmo-Levine said. "I think people are beginning 
to get an idea of how much it could make in a legal market, which 
would be bigger than an illegal market."

During our interview, Taylor and I visited the building which used to 
house the Herb School. It's a small storefront, empty now, typical of 
any old, run-down building in Chinatown. Taylor hasn't been back here 
since the raid and visiting drummed up a lot of feelings; pride, 
hatred, sadness, disappointment, melancholy.

His experience being arrested and facing a trial because of his 
political beliefs has also made him feel differently about his 
involvement with marijuana activism. He sees now why a lot of people 
who may support legalization are often too scared to get involved.

"I'm going to try and be involved as much as I can, but it's hard, 
right? There's so much coming down on us," he said, describing his 
disillusionment. "With a system that's this organized, and this 
precise and this hateful coming down against its own citizens, it's 
really hard to do anything, let alone be an activist."

"Before the arrests, there was a lot of hope, because all we had to 
go on was our hope," he said.

Malmo-Levine agreed that the force and threats of force against 
marijuana activists is a unique and unfortunate facet of their movement.

"Being public about your support of the Gas Tax probably won't 
endanger your children being taken away from you, or get you in 
trouble with a parent or get you fired from a job but if you come out 
in support of marijuana you run that risk," Malmo-Levine said. "This 
is the biggest war in the world and probably the longest-running and 
I don't expect them to hand us peace on a silver platter when we snap 
our fingers. It's a Drug War, not a Drug Ballet, and in war there are 
victims, and casualties, and struggle, and it's a fucking battle."

- ---

[sidebar]

Although the School of Drug War History and Organic Cultivation was 
closed down in 2008, seminars about the Drug War are held at the 
Marijuana Party bookstore at 307 West Hastings free of charge. David 
Malmo-Levine has posted web video at http://www.pot.tv, and is 
working on a new video about Barack Obama and his stance on decriminalization.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom