CANNABIS DAY PICNIC HAS HIGHLY CHARGED AGENDA

There was more than one way to get baked in the sun in Halifax on
Canada Day.

A telltale sweet smell drifted through the air as more than 200 people
gathered on the Dartmouth Common for Halifax's 13th annual Cannabis
Day picnic, held every July 1.

They seemed relaxed and happy as they enjoyed the warm weather, played
Hacky Sack or sat together on blankets under nearby trees.

One young man named Jordan said he had recently moved to Halifax from
Ottawa and wanted to get a taste of the city's Canada Day events.

"This is really interesting," he said, standing near the
ever-lengthening line for hotdogs. "I've never seen anything like this
before. I mean, everyone's pretty open about it."

While many seemed to be drawn to the grassy hill for the laid-back
ambiance, there was also a political undercurrent to the festivities.
The major buzz this year surrounded Bill C-26, which was tabled in the
House of Commons in November 2007. The legislation would amend the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to include harsher penalties for
possession and distribution of illegal drugs, including marijuana.

"It's absolutely outrageous," said Debbie Shultz-Griffin, who uses the
drug to help deal with her multiple sclerosis.

"It would see people imprisoned for a mandatory period of six months
for cultivating as little as one marijuana plant. It leaves a lot of
medical marijuana patients in really precarious situations . . .
living in constant fear of having their doors kicked in by law
enforcement agencies."

Ms. Shultz-Griffin serves as president of Maritimers Unite for Medical
Marijuana, a non-profit organization formed in 2003 that advocates for
the therapeutic use of the cannabis plant. So far, only 2,432
Canadians have received permission from Health Canada to use marijuana
for medicinal purposes.

John Cook, the vice-chairman of the group, called the bill
"outlandish" and unconstitutional, adding that polls have shown that
most taxpayers support medicinal marijuana.

"They're going to be spending more money on policing and the courts,"
he said. "So there seems to be a dichotomy between what people want
and what the government is doing."

As the afternoon wore on, a number of people suffering from chronic
illnesses took the stage to tell the crowd about their personal
struggles to gain legal access to the drug. Jordan, who described
himself as a casual user, said he agreed with the message they were
trying to get across.

"There's a lot of political red tape surrounding this issue," he
said.

"I think that it's all just a matter of stigma. We should all be able
to make choices about what we consume."