MARYJANE THE CANNABUS ROLLS INTO TOWN

Standing beside his green bus, over looking the green of Puke Ariki,
"Dakta Green" inhales, smiles and blows a thick cloud of smoke in the
air.

"It's very simple," he says. "We wish to legalise cannabis."

Mr Green (aka Ken Morgan) was in New Plymouth yesterday on board
"Maryjane the Cannabus" with members of the national organisation for
the reform of marijuana laws (Norml).

The group was on a nationwide tour planning to visit 42 towns and
cities in 42 days, holding a protest at 4.20pm every day.

"We want to stop people being locked in jail for cannabis offences, we
object to them even being called offences!" Mr Green said to the crowd
who gathered around the bus, nostrils flared.

"We are Norml people, doing normal things!"

The Cannabus tour comes at a time when the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis
Party is sitting seventh in the most recent Colmar Brunton poll.

With 0.4%, it has more backing than United Future NZ and Jim
Anderton's Progressive Party combined.

Mr Green said there had been huge support of the tour from people of
every aspect of New Zealand society.

"I've had homeless people, politicians, lawyers, doctors, even
reporters smoking in the bus," he said.

It was time this was recognised.

"I'm a grandfather not a criminal," he said. "But I've been in jail
and that makes me a criminal."

The protest, which involved a lot of cannabis smoking, has so far been
ignored by police. Mr Green said New Zealand's cannabis laws were the
result of the United States imposing their laws on the rest of the
world.

"In New Zealand we proudly told the United States to take your nukes
and shove them," he said.

"It's time to tell them to take your cannabis and shove it up your
bong and smoke it!"

The group of happy faces responded with a thrust of their tightly
rolled marijuana cigarettes into the air.

The bus will be in Stratford today and Hawera on Wednesday.