'CANNABIS IS THE LEAST OF OUR PROBLEMS'

A pro-marijuana group took its protest to Lethbridge streets Monday.

Warmly-dressed protesters rallied in front of MP Rick Casson's
office, after parading their signs through the city centre. They were
opposing the Conservative government's plans for compulsory jail
terms for people selling street drugs.

Tamara Cartwright, spokesperson for more than a dozen who turned out
for the city's first pro-pot demonstration, said the planned law
changes could make criminals of people like her who rely on marijuana
for pain control.

"All this means is that hard-working Canadians that use a bit of weed
will be sitting in jail rather than working," she said. "This is not
the solution."

Speaking for the Southern Alberta Cannabis Club, she said public
education and government regulation 'like liquor' would be a better
response than an American-style "war on drugs."

"Addiction is a medical issue and should be treated as such,"
Cartwright said. "Prohibition is a waste of our tax money."

The Coaldale woman hoped to take that message to Casson, during a
meeting scheduled later in the day. Demonstrations were planned
Monday in front of scores of MPs' offices across Canada, in response
to Bill C-26 introduced late last month in Parliament.

The bill calls for a mandatory prison sentence when police can link a
marijuana seller with organized crime, and a two-year minimum when
anyone is found with a grow-op where more than 500 plants are being raised.

The maximum sentence for growing cannabis could double to 14 years,
if Parliament passes the bill as tabled by Justice Minister Rob Nicholson.

"Cannabis is the least of our problems," said Cartwright. Yet the
Harper government seems determined to spend at extra $62.5 million
tax dollars "on an American style drug war that has proven not to be
successful."

Protesters claimed while one-third of Canadians oppose full
legalization and regulation of marijuana, the rest are moderately or
strongly in favour. A recent SES Research poll, they said, found just
eight per cent of Canadians who were interviewed remained in favour
of criminal prohibition.