Pubdate: Sat, 21 Apr 2012
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2012 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/send_a_letter
Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Melissa Martin

PUFFS AND POLITICS HIT LEGISLATURE

Tokers mark 4/20 with annual plea to legalize marijuana

How's this for a protest: At exactly 4:20 p.m.: a thousand people in
the grass and there emerged an indistinct cheer and the friendly
rhythms of puff, puff and pass.

Once again, Winnipeggers descended on the Manitoba legislature Friday
afternoon to observe 4/20 -- the worldwide date to celebrate the
benefits of marijuana and protest its continued prohibition. Police
would eventually shoo them away at about 5:30 p.m. But first, there
was a lot of talking -- and toking -- to do.

"This is a great way to raise awareness," said Steven Stairs, 27,
adding he could talk "for days" about the benefits of legalizing the
plant. "There's so many negative stigmas out there, but it's something
that should not be illegalized in the first place. Canada's a
progressive country, we need to be a world leader."

For three years, Stairs has grown his own marijuana -- with a permit
- -- to treat the glaucoma that is stealing his eyesight. It worked so
well he joined the Marijuana Party of Canada as its Kildonan-St. Paul
representative. On Friday, he arrived at the protest toting signs to
distribute to the gathered throngs. "DON'T PANIC, IT'S ORGANIC," one
of them read.

Those signs would bear witness to the usual potpourri of 4/20 fans:
there were the clusters of giggling teens in hoodies and torn-up
jeans. There were the rangy men with steel-grey dreadlocks who have
championed the cause since long before the kids were born. And along
the legislature's marble steps, a thin blue line of stoic police
officers, arms crossed in the generous springtime sun.

In the heart of the throng, a sturdy man stood in a black shirt that
bore a bold message: "COPS SAY LEGALIZE DRUGS," it read. "ASK ME WHY."

So we did. "For 40 years, we've enforced the law," said Bill
VanderGraaf, a retired Winnipeg police staff sergeant who used to work
the homicide and street-gang beats. "Now (Prime Minister Stephen)
Harper's increased the law, and I think that's going to make our
country more dangerous. We're criminalizing too many young people...
you can recover from an addiction, but you'll never recover from a
conviction."

After leaving the force in 2001, VanderGraaf joined Law Enforcement
Against Prohibition, an international group calling for relaxation of
drug laws, beginning with marijuana. There are plenty of police that
support the movement, VanderGraaf said, though many can't speak out.
"Lots of officers these days don't want to waste their time with minor
drug arrests," he said. "They support us through our website."

Amid the throng of 4/20 revellers, voices like VanderGraaf's are
getting more attention in recent years. Ardent anti-prohibition
activists have long fretted about the distinct absence of politics in
the annual 4/20 circus: a protest with Porta-Potties, hotdog vendors
and de facto government sanction isn't exactly pushing the envelope.

But in these days of the 99 per cent and the Buffett rule, there's one
buzzword that's been steadily gaining steam: taxation.

Some of the younger attendees at the 4/20 protest don't like to hear
it, older advocates said. But the idea of legalizing and then taxing
marijuana like cigarettes, a venture that could put millions into
government coffers, appears to attract more supporters each year.

"Hundreds of millions (of dollars) redirected for schools, for
hospitals," said Joseph Fullmer, a Winnipegger and "standard Canadian
working guy" who turned out in a homemade sandwich board calling for
taxation and regulation. "Hundreds of millions redirected for better
things. How can that not be a benefit? The system is backwards... it
allows corruption to benefit, instead of the Canadian people."

He paused, leaning over to offer a grey-haired man in a wheelchair a
toke from a big glass bong.

"It's a crying shame that our government allows that."

[sidebar]

POLICE STAND BY

ABOUT a dozen city police officers stood by and watched for trouble at
the annual 4/20 pro-pot rally at the Manitoba legislature Friday, but
police had no plans to make any arrests for toking. "While it's a
behaviour that we do not condone and we do not support, at this time
that's not something that we will be following through with charges,"
Const. Natalie Aitken said, noting police were also keeping an eye on
those who left the area by car for signs of drug impairment.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D