MARIJUANA MASSES MEET AT VIC CANNABIS CONVENTION

The smell of sweet skunk and sounds of cannabis coughing were
tell-tale clues for the location of the 11th-annual Victoria
Cannabis Convention.

Many members of Victoria's cannabis community gathered this past
Sunday, Feb. 28, in UVic's David Strong Building, to celebrate and
educate people about marijuana's benefits.

The event was hosted by Hempology 101, a non-profit society that
looks to educate the public on marijuana's medicinal, industrial,
environmental and social benefits. The society gathered a who's-who
of marijuana activists to speak on issues confronting the marijuana
community, marijuana's history and new opportunities and products
from this plant.

The list of speakers included lawyers, police and advocates.

Bill Finley from Victoria's Hemp & Company spoke of "the beauty of
this plant, from an environmental perspective."

His company views their role beyond retail sales to include
environmental education and excellence, right down to the
construction of their stores. They recognize that their product,
hemp, is a sustainable source of fabric, food, bio-fuel, paper and
natural beauty products, all grown without toxic chemicals.

Finley, like other speakers, talked about "the many misconceptions
that prevent hemp from realizing its potential" and the reefer
madness that surrounds marijuana as medication and a social drug.

Ted Smith, president of Victoria's Hempology chapter, sees the
marijuana advocates' biggest threat as "the Conservatives' agenda to
throw pot growers in jail with whatever C-crap [Bill C-15] they come
up with next."

Smith is also concerned about "the complete lack of [marijuana]
research being done in Canada." Currently, the only federally funded
marijuana research is directed toward schizophrenia.aE/

The conference wasn't about re-hashing the issues marijuana
activists and enthusiasts face, but focused more on education and
building a sense of community.

Smith felt that the convention was a success.

"If one person decides they are going to do more out of this day, we
have done real well," he said. "[Cannabis conventions, with people]
just getting together and speaking has not only informed people, but
has made them feel like they are part of a greater community of
people that are interested in more than just partying and getting
high -- to me, that's really powerful and can have a great impact."

Government and Bill C-15

The Conservative Crime Bill C-15 has been put on hold until
Parliament resumes. But just how tough Prime Minister Stephen Harper
plans to be remains to be seen.

The Liberal party has not been very vocal on the issue either.
However, on his last visit to Victoria where he spoke to students at
UVic, Liberal leader Micheal Ignatieff said he would not legalize marijuana.

The NDP's Libbie Davies -- MP for Vancouver East -- and Victoria MP
Denise Savoie have both publically commented on the new legislation.

"There's a lot of information, both in the U.S. and in Canada, that
shows that mandatory minimum sentencing regimes for drug offences
are ineffective," Davies told media. "It's based on the U.S.'s war
on drugs, which has been a complete failure."

Savoie has similar feelings on the issue.

"The current federal government's approach to drug policy is poorly
targeted, attacks symptoms while ignoring root causes and misses
creative economic opportunities," said Savoie. "This U.S.-styled war
on drugs is simplistic, knee-jerk and counter-productive: we
already spend 73 per cent of our drug strategy on enforcement, yet
drug use continues to rise."