WEEDING OUT STIGMA

Cannabis rally attracts 500; legalization pleas aplenty

Jonathan Hilton smokes marijuana to relieve the spasms and exhaustion he
gets from having multiple sclerosis. But the 47-year-old knows of other sick
people - including a cancer patient - who won't because of the social
stigma.

"Even though he can't hold down any food, he refuses to have a toke," said
Hilton.

Legalizing marijuana and reducing that stigma is why Hilton, who is
paralysed on his right side, was one of more than 500 people attending the
Cannabis Day Picnic on a soccer field on Halifax Common.

Sweet smells of marijuana dominated the fourth annual display of civil
disobedience as hundreds openly lit up. While Health Minister Allan Rock has
announced clinical trials on using marijuana for medicinal use, most picnic
gatherers are pushing for legalizing marijuana for not only medicinal use
but recreational.

Speakers, live bands and activists were joined by merchants promoting
everything from regular ice cream to a Halifax-produced beer called Sharp
Angus Hemp Ale.

Still some stigma persisted.

John, a 17-year-old J.L. Ilsley High School student, refused to give his
last name when describing his drug paraphernalia.

"I just don't want my father reading it," he said, as he described a pipe he
was using that he made with blue Lego pieces and a pink straw.

His friend Gina, also 17, said she hoped marijuana would be legalized
because it was a better and more peaceful recreational drug than alcohol.

One of the speakers, Coast magazine columnist and University of King's
College journalism professor Bruce Wark, urged reporters to do more stories
on public money wasted on investigating and charging citizens for simple
drug use.

"The local media love a drug bust and they eagerly report (the police's)
inflated street values," said Wark.

He urged a shift in story focus.

He said Statistics Canada numbers quoted in the media show about 48,000
Canadians were charged with marijuana offences in 1997 - two-thirds of them
for simple possession. He said individual rights are being violated by
current laws.

The law didn't turn a blind eye to yesterday's event.

While hundreds openly smoked up, four plain-clothed police officers worked
the crowd for 90 minutes.

"There were six small, personal-quantity seizures but there was no evidence
of trafficking," said police spokesman Sgt. David Reynolds.

"The sergeant in charge decided not to lay any charges given the situation."

He said police didn't receive a single complaint during the event.

"This wasn't a big issue and we weren't going to turn it into a big issue,"
said Reynolds.