Pubdate: Mon, 12 Aug 2013
Source: Kamloops Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 Kamloops Daily News
Contact:  http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/679
Author: Jason Hewlett
Page: 3

POT ADVOCATE HAS BONE TO PICK WITH RIBFEST

Carl Anderson Said Event Organizers Barred Sensible B.C. Petition Booth

A local pot activist claims he was barred from Ribfest after 
organizers promised he could collect signatures and recruit 
volunteers to aid a province-wide referendum on decriminalizing marijuana.

A Ribfest spokesman tells a different story, saying the Sensible B.C 
campaign wasn't able to place a booth at the weekend-long event 
because it missed the application deadline.

Carl Anderson, local organizer for Sensible B.C., doesn't see it that 
way. He's convinced the controversy around decriminalizing marijuana 
is what denied him access to the family festival.

"We were screwed," Anderson told The Daily News.

Sensible B.C. is a provincial group out to decriminalize marijuana 
possession. The organization wants to collect 400,000 signatures by 
November to launch a referendum in 2014.

Anderson said he contacted Ribfest organizers earlier this month 
about having a booth at the festival.

He was told he could submit an application and pay the $300 fee at 
his earliest convenience, said Anderson. That was Friday, Aug. 2.

Anderson dropped off his paperwork and a cheque first thing Tuesday 
morning, he said. He showed up Friday with his volunteers, booth and 
supplies ready to get to work.

"Then they changed their tune out of nowhere," said Anderson. "They 
told us they didn't get our application."

Anderson asked if there was a way to correct the matter and reapply. 
He was told no, he said.

Ribfest spokesman Bryce Herman said there is nothing sinister or 
discriminatory about what happened to Anderson. The truth of the 
matter is, Sensible B.C. missed the application deadline by a couple of days.

"There is a deadline for everything," said Herman. "If you're going 
to do it, get it in. But, at a certain point, we've got to cut things off."

Anderson doesn't buy it. He believes Ribfest was spooked by his bid 
to change cannabis laws.

"I'm prepared to knock on every door in Kamloops to make this happen," he said.

Herman maintains this was not the case.

"We're not taking a stand on one side, one way or the other. We're 
saying process is process," he said.

Anderson said his $300 hasn't been returned. Herman promised it will be.

Anderson wants to secure enough signatures in Kamloops - 10 per cent 
of voting population - by November. To do that, he needs volunteers 
to circulate petitions and gather some 6,500 names.

If the referendum is successful in this province, Sensible B.C. hopes 
pressure will be put on the federal government to change cannabis laws.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom