POLITICS IS GOING TO POT FOR CANNABIS CRUSADER

Seed Seller Wants To Take On Health Minister In Election

If Health Canada is really serious about seeking out the best marijuana --
to produce a domestic crop for medical purposes -- they should speak to Ron
Hill.

A very determined -- some say reckless -- pot crusader, Mr. Hill is the only
person in the Toronto area who openly sells active marijuana seeds.

"I love growing marijuana," he says. "I love how it looks, how it tastes.
Love the effect. I'm always looking for a perfect 10 on the Richter scale.
Too bad I've only found a 9.5."

Mr. Hill has nothing but praise for Allan Rock, the Health Minister, for
promoting "the legalization and decriminalization" of medical marijuana, but
still wants to knock him off at the polls. In the next federal election, Mr.
Hill plans on running in Mr. Rock's home riding of Etobicoke Centre as a
candidate for the Marijuana Party, a single-issue group devoted to the
legalization of pot.

Of course, Mr. Hill's candidacy depends on whether or not he is in jail when
the feds drop the writ.

The manager of a hemp store called Hidden Jungle, he also runs a side
business selling pot seeds online.

Asked why he hasn't been busted for running this business, Mr. Hill spouts
off legalese about court cases and biochemical photosynthesis.

Marijuana, he explains, has been legally defined as "a plant which contains
THC" -- the latter being the compound that gives pot its psychoactive kick.
Pot seeds, on the other hand, don't contain any THC. Therefore, according to
Mr. Hill, selling seeds is not against the law.

But, said Alan Young, an Osgoode Hall Law school professor and longtime drug
law activist, that's just "wishful thinking."

While sterile cannabis seeds are exempt under the Criminal Code, seeds that
can produce plants are an entirely different matter.

"If a seed can be germinated, it's technically considered contraband.
Nothing in the Criminal Code requires THC content," explains Mr. Young.

Nor does being online provide a legal cover either, say police.

Existing Canadian drug laws apply to cyberspace as much as they do to city
streets, states Sgt. Nigel Fontaine, a media officer with the Toronto
police. From their perspective, the Internet is simply just another
"vehicle" -- like a telephone or car -- that can move along drug sales.

That said, Mr. Hill's a lot safer selling seeds than bags of pot.

"Police do not raid seed dealers very often [because] they have to take the
seeds and germinate them," explains Mr. Young. "If they can't grow them,
they've got no case. This takes time and money."

Drug law reformers don't quite know whether they should applaud or condemn
Mr. Hill's entrepreneurial activism.

"I admire people who have the courage to challenge the law," says Eugene
Oscapella, a lawyer with the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy, a group
that favours decriminalization of pot. "On the other hand, I fear for their
safety. The justice system can come down on them like a hammer."