'FREE THE WEED'

Pot Smokers Rally For Legalization

Smokers of the ganja, unite!

Yesterday afternoon, close to 200 people sat cross-legged in small groups
on the grounds of the Manitoba Legislature, happily smoking weed and
vivaciously debating the ills of a system which doesn't allow this sort of
thing to take place every day.

"It doesn't make a lot of sense to me that, in Canada, it's OK if you want
to drink yourself into a stupor every night, and it's OK if you want to
drink yourself into a rage every night -- but you can't sit in your own
back yard and smoke a joint," said a 49-year-old woman who didn't want to
be named out of concern for her job.

"You don't read about people smoking a joint and beating their wife." The
4th annual "Parasites of Prohibition" rally brought together Winnipeggers
of different backgrounds in support of the decriminalization of marijuana
for purposes of pain and stress relief.

While some people smoked up in the sunshine, others bounced around hacky
sacks or listened to longtime activist Chris Buors appealing through a
microphone for solidarity and action.

Prairie Dawn, a 27-year-old herbalist, and her four-year-old daughter
Lavender sunk a sign into the soil of a Legislature grounds flower garden
which read, "God made marijuana, God made me, God bless marijuana, God
bless me! Free the weed!"

Although governments in a few other countries such The Netherlands and
Jamaica have embraced the weed, Dawn said she thinks it's going to take a
lot more to convince the Western World of its healing powers.

"This society is still run by the white, upper-middle class," said Dawn.
"They're not familiar with marijuana as a social drug, so they're afraid of
it. I don't think there's anything wrong with people using one of the most
powerful medicines there are."

NO ROWDY BEHAVIOUR

Benn Epe, 32, pointed out that after more than an hour, none of the people
in attendance had become rowdy -- a good example of what he believes to be
one of the drug's strongest elements.

"We have a society where we have all of these other freedoms," Epe said.
"As long as you're not hurting anybody ..."

Some passersby were a bit put off by the gathering as they walked their
dogs or enjoyed the sunny weather nearby.

One man, arriving with a wedding party to take photographs inside the
Legislative Building, walked up the grand outdoor staircase and quietly
responded to a little girl's question about who all the people on the grass
were. "They're freaks."