MACCAN LEGION CHARTER REVOKED

The Maccan branch of the Royal Canadian Legion has had its charter
pulled and its executive has been suspended because of its stance on
hemp oil.

Steve Wessell, chair of the Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command, said the
executive of the Maccan branch was using the legion name to make
policy statements and ignored warnings to stop.

"They were saying the Royal Canadian Legion, through the Maccan
branch, is in favour of this hemp oil. They can do that as private
citizens, but not as members of the Royal Canadian Legion at this
point unless it comes through our command or Dominion command,"
Wessell said.

As a result, provincial command has temporarily suspended the legion's
charter and its executive committee.

"It's not a decision we made lightly. We had been in communication
with the branch executive on several occasions to stop holding hemp
oil meetings and we told them to follow and enforce the legion's
bylaws," Wessell said yesterday. "Due to their failure to do so we
have been forced to take action."

As well, a meeting scheduled at the branch last night to discuss the
use of hemp oil was cancelled.

Wessell said provincial command is hoping to put a temporary
management team in place as soon as possible so the branch can reopen
and he expects certain members of the branch to face disciplinary
action through the legion.

George Theal, president of the branch, is not surprised by the Nova
Scotia/Nunavut Command's decision to pull the charter.

"I told them that if they kept going the way they were going they
would close the doors," Theal said later. "I just got home last night
and the zone commander called me six times."

Theal, who said he did not support the executive's actions, is hoping
to get the legion reopened early next week with a new management team.

The executive got itself in trouble last month when it passed a motion
supporting hemp oil advocate Rick Simpson. The support came after the
executive reviewed the evidence claiming hemp oil as a treatment for
skin cancer and other ailments.

The branch has hosted several meetings on the subject of hemp oil and
another had been planned for last night with invitations sent to local
politicians, the media and the Cumberland Health Authority.