By Greg Joyce Source: Canadian Press There was more than the usual buzz happening Wednesday at the downtown headquarters of the B.C. Marijuana Party as news circulated -- along with the pungent aroma of burning pot -- that a Senate committee had recommended legalization of marijuana use. Marc Emery, perhaps Canada's best-known pot activist, was busy bouncing among media interviews at the store, which is also home to the party's extensive bookstore of how-to pot pourri. Emery was visibly ecstatic, admittedly stunned at the way the stereotypical stodgy senators had suddenly become, well, dudes. "It's a beacon of light from the Senate," said Emery, president of the Marijuana party and a candidate for the autumn Vancouver mayoralty election under the Vancouver Marijuana party banner. "It's wonderful," he continued to bubble as a few nearby customers thumbed through books on cultivating pot. "I was stunned by the enlightenment in this report." He was even more delighted given the reaction he received at his appearance before the nine-member committee and especially Senator Colin Kenny, its deputy chairman. "Colin Kenny gave me such a grilling that I found very intimidating," said Emery, who also publishes Cannabis Culture magazine and whose Web site touts him as having for sale the largest collection of marijuana seeds in the world. He now believes that the committee was "obviously willing to push people's buttons to get the information they were seeking." "It's the most far-reaching document of any western country or any place in the world in regards to marijuana," said the leader of a party who ran candidates in every riding during the 2001 provincial election and received more than 53,000 votes. "It goes further than Switzerland, further than Holland and is certainly light years ahead of the United States." The report said the current system of prohibition simply doesn't work and should be replaced by a regulated system, perhaps like that used for alcohol, with cannabis available to anyone 16 or older. David Malmo-Levine, another longtime pot legalization activist, said he was "ecstatic." He is heading to the Supreme Court of Canada, along with two others, in a few months on a pot conviction. "I'm euphoric. I'm blown away." He will argue his own case before the nine justices, as he did before the B.C. Court of Appeal, but now bolstered now by the Senate committee's pot pronouncements. "The senators have gotten us all high out here on the West Coast," said Malmo-Levine. "I'm glad that age does not seem to remove common sense from your brain." Malmo-Levine was found guilty of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. The B.C. Court of Appeal upheld the conviction, but a dissenting judge stated the risk must be significant if Parliament is to intervene criminally in people's lives. The judge wrote that simple possession does not meet that test. He will be joined by two other Canadians -- convicted pot smokers -- who will argue that federal marijuana laws are unconstitutional. Scott Hearty, who works at the Marijuana party bookstore, passed a joint around as he too wondered at the Senate's work. "I'm in awe," said Hearty. "They were supposed to consider decriminalization options and they said legalization." Still, Hearty is wary of the reaction in the elected House of Commons and by the United States. "There will be a lot of pressure on Ottawa from the U.S. government and it's hard to say how they'll react." But Emery said the Senate report might help the Commons. "The Supreme Court will be greatly emboldened and empowered by nine Senate members unanimously saying legalize marijuana," reasoned Emery. "A lot of us suspect that all along the House of Commons wants the Supreme Court to rule on this so they can go to the Americans and say, 'It's not our fault. It was that Liberal-minded court.'" In Fredericton, criminal lawyer Daniel Watters hailed the recommendations as something whose "time has come." "It's a thing that has to happen," said Watters, who has long called for drugs to be legalized in Canada. "It's one of the most innocuous flowering little buds known to humankind and it's been a friend of humans for 20,000 years," he said. "It's politicians of the ignorance of George Bush and the rest of that ilk that have stopped it all around the world." Source: Canadian Press Author: Greg Joyce Published: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Canadian Press Related Articles & Web Sites: B.C. Marijuana Party http://www.bcmarijuanaparty.ca/ Pot-TV News - September 4, 2002 http://www.pot-tv.net/ram/pottvshowse1500.ram
Yeh, we are Really though, Im sure the legislation won't pass...Why? American Goverment. Look at the Mexico issue. At times, I think the american government has more power over our country then ours does. Ill cross my fingers though