Pubdate: Tue, 05 Jan 2016
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Dana Gee
Page: 2

POT ACTIVIST'S MAILOUT TO LIBERAL MPS: BOOK WITH A GRAM

VANCOUVER - Liberal MPs will soon be getting some interesting and 
fragrant mail.

Pot activist and former B.C. NDP leadership candidate Dana Larsen is 
sending a special package to the 184 politicians. The manila envelope 
contains his and illustrator Patrick Dowers' new book Cannabis in 
Canada, the Illustrated History - as well as a gram (about $12-$15 
worth) of medical-grade marijuana.

"It's not legal to mail people weed ... but most of Canada's 
marijuana laws are made to be broken, so that's just another one," 
said Larsen, who added he is not worried about any legal backlash.

"I don't think any Liberal MP is going to call the police, and if 
they do I don't think the police are going to come after me for a gram of pot."

This isn't Larsen's first time sending pot to politicians. In 2014 he 
sent B.C. Premier Christy Clark a half ounce to point out the taxes 
that could be generated by pot and to also suggest it could be used 
as a way to bring together the government and the B.C. Teachers 
Federation whose members had been on strike for months.

This time out, the pot is value-added to a 132-page book that takes 
readers on a journey from our country's first cannabis crop back in 
1606 to the current day and the fluid world of medical marijuana.

"I don't think the story has been told before," said Larsen who was a 
founding member of the B.C. Marijuana party and the co-founder of the 
Vancouver Dispensary Society and Vancouver Seed Bank.

"We mostly get a lot of American information. So we know that George 
Washington grew cannabis and stuff like that, but the Canadian story 
has not really been told."

The book retails for $9.95. You can get your copy from 
www.cannabishistory.ca or check out your favourite hemp or head shop.

As for the packages to politicians, Larsen said he has yet to hear 
back from any MPs.

"No one has called me and said, 'Thanks for the book and the gram,' " 
said Larsen, who has been working on the book for 20 years.

"I'd be surprised if too many MPs smoke it themselves, but you never 
know. Probably someone on their staff will get to enjoy it. It will 
get them talking about the issue, which is important."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom