IN DEFENCE OF DEFELICE AND MIDDLEMISS

To the Editor:

I have known Paul DeFelice and Alan Middlemiss for more than 15 years.
Paul and I were amongst the first to promote the use of hemp for
industrial purposes, food and medicine in Canada. Eighteen years
later we now have a legal hemp industry and legal medical marijuana in
Canada.

Just as saner views inevitably prevail over old superstitions and
prejudices, so too will Canada see legal marijuana, regulated for adult use.

Cannabis is a natural and beneficial herb that has been used by
humanity for 10,000 years, and no matter what the injustice of any
country's current laws might hold, you can be SURE that it will be
part of human culture for another 10,000 years.

The reality of the matter, over and above the hyperbole of the justice
system, is that humanity has had a natural indigenous relationship
with this plant, that procedes even the earliest human cultures and
morality codes.

It is only in the last century that we see this natural relationship
threatened, with outdated laws that find their origins in racism and
other petty prejudices instead of scientific fact.

In relation to 'fact,' I know for a 'fact' that both of these
individuals are not criminals, but rather they are honest and
righteous heroes, who at risk of their own liberty, have taken up the
challenge against these unnatural laws, and are fighting for
humanity's oldest plant ally. That they should do jail time for such
noble work is a crime against them and humanity's natural indigenous
right to the plants of the Earth.

Chris Bennett

Vancouver