ACTIVISTS PUT TRACES OF POT ON FERRIES TO FOIL SEARCHES

There could be a little something extra in the air on board B.C. ferries
running between Nanaimo's Departure Bay and Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver.

The B.C. Marijuana Party says it is trying to disrupt the work of
drug-sniffing police dogs by sprinkling ground-up marijuana and cayenne
pepper powder, and spraying distilled marijuana on the car decks of ferries.

Party members say they'll be on board ferries between Departure Bay and
Horseshoe Bay every day for the next two weeks to tend to their task.

The group is protesting the actions last week of police officers, who used
drug-sniffing dogs to find marijuana hidden in cars on board ferries. Three
people were arrested.

"We are totally opposed to the police and the government and we have to
defend our people," said Marc Emery, B.C. Marijuana Party president. "We
regard ourselves as a marijuana community."

Emery said he is willing to be arrested for the action. "As the president of
the B.C. Marijuana Party I'm supposed to set a good example."

The searches were a troubling incursion into the public's right to privacy,
he said Thursday from Vancouver.

"Pot-smoker or not, this type of behaviour compromises every person's right
to privacy and their right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure."

Emery was one of several party members who kicked off the protest Wednesday
by riding the 10:30 a.m. ferry from Horseshoe Bay and catching a different 3
p.m. ferry back from Nanaimo.

One person sprinkled a combination of one ounce of ground marijuana mixed
with a few ounces of cayenne pepper on the car decks, Emery said. The intent
is to thwart the ability of drug-sniffing dogs to track down marijuana by
using pepper that will irritate their noses.

Activists also sprayed car decks with THC, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol,
distilled from marijuana, he said. "It's a big green goopy solution."

Party supporters handed out 700 pamphlets on board the ferries to present
their viewpoint. Many people were sympathetic, Emery said.

Three more party activists were on the same route Thursday but Emery said he
did not have details of which ferries they were on and would not disclose
any details. More spraying is planned.

Deborah Dykes, B.C. Ferry Corp. spokeswoman, said the West Vancouver police
were notified Wednesday night. "The corporation takes this matter
seriously."

The corporation's security department has alerted the rest of the fleet, she
said from Horseshoe Bay. Dykes said she could not comment on whether extra
security has been added to car decks.

West Vancouver police Cpl. Tim Dean said police were not investigating the
Wednesday incident. "As far as we are concerned it is nothing more than a
publicity stunt."

TV crews were invited to tape Wednesday's spraying but, like many travellers
in summer, were left behind in the parking lot watching the packed ferry
pull away.

THC is an illegal substance, Dean said. Because it would be in such minute
quantities, he doesn't think anyone could get high by breathing it in.

Possession of THC is unlikely to result in an arrest. "We don't go out of
our way to arrest people with a marijuana joint."

There are some situations which might meet the criteria for criminal
offences. For example, someone could obstruct a police officer if they
affected a police dog's ability to do its job. Or an activity might be
construed as mischief if a complaint was received that pepper caused
problems for a person suffering from asthma.