NUDE BEACH DARLING WANTS HER 'SACRED PLACE'

Pending Pot Charges

When Watermelon was arrested on Wreck Beach, naked and holding a tin
of cannabis-laden ginger snaps she had sold to undercover RCMP
officers, it appeared to be just another sad case of how the cookie
crumbles.

But in provincial court this month, the ginger snaps proved remarkably
durable and it was the case against her that fell to pieces.

Not that Watermelon, whose real name is Mary Jean Dunsdon, is out of
the woods for commercially producing ginger snaps with more snap than
is legal.

She is still waiting for another judge to decide what to do with a
similar charge of possession of cannabis resin for the purpose of
trafficking, the result of an undercover operation in July last year
that led to a second arrest.

"I'm a baker, not a criminal, although my ginger snaps do have a bit
of extra snap in them," Watermelon admitted after Judge Dennis Schmidt
dismissed trafficking charges for her first arrest Sept. 8, 2001.

"There wasn't any pretext when I was in court. I wasn't pretending I'm
not doing what I'm doing. I want to be a respected business person in
my community, but I have these legal challenges to deal with," she
said.

These add up to three charges of possession for the purpose of
trafficking and three of breaching an undertaking to stay away from
Wreck Beach that she signed after her second arrest.

"It was either sign or stay in jail. But I was like a mouse who
couldn't stay away from the cheese and I'd keep sneaking down to
listen to music and they'd catch me," she said.

When Watermelon was first collared three years ago, it almost turned
into a riot as the lone arresting officer had to take his naked
captive away in front of 300 or so Wreck Beachers who opposed the
apprehension of their counterculture pinup.

She had been a fixture on the beach for years selling cookies, pies
and watermelon slices.

Pictures taken of the event show a harried-looking police officer,
Watermelon wearing a smile, and a bunch of gesticulating, angry people.

She turned one of those photos into a T-shirt print, captioned it
Watermelon's Bust and sold the shirts around town while performing as
a standup comic, satire being one of her many callings - along with
baking, acting, producing, writing, being an impresario and modelling
for the covers and centrefold of marijuana-industry
publications.

At a small performance space in East Vancouver, she organizes a
cabaret every Saturday night. For $15, patrons get comedy and one of
her special ginger snaps.

"I sold the T-shirts because I needed the money for my defence," she
said.

When the RCMP arrested her in July 2003, they waited at the top of the
trail, away from the crowd on the beach.

When it all landed in court, Watermelon's lawyer, John Conroy,
questioned the police analyst who examined the ginger snaps.

He hadn't found any microscopic traces of cannabis plant material but
discovered traces of cannabinoids - the psychoactive chemical
substances found in marijuana - in the cookies and the Crown charged
her with possessing cannabis resin.

But Conroy pointed out that the analyst hadn't found
resin.

"In the old days, it wouldn't have mattered if they hadn't found
resin, just cannabinoids. They would have simply amended the charges
in court.

"But you can't do that today as it's prejudicial to the accused,"
Conroy said.

"If they'd charged her with cannabinoids, well and good. But they
didn't and the analyst admitted he didn't find resin and so the judge
dismissed the charges."

Crown counsel Gerry Sair said the acquittal is being reviewed and
might be appealed.

In the meantime, Dunsdon is hoping for a second acquittal, then plans
to be in court to have the ban preventing her visiting Wreck Beach
lifted.

"That beach is my home, my church, my community. It's a sacred place
for me," she said.