PROTESTERS DEMAND LEGAL ACCESS TO CANNABIS

Some lit up bongs, some blasted Bob Marley and others waved flags
emblazoned with the marijuana leaf in a Sunday afternoon protest
outside police headquarters to protest the shuttering of Cannabis as
Living Medicine.

Officers raided the Queen St. E. clinic of CALM, an organization that
sells marijuana to medicinal users, on March 31 and charged nine
people with a variety of drug-related offences.

On Sunday, some 300 people took to the street outside police
headquarters to protest the raid and subsequent closure of the clinic,
and to demand that Health Canada make it easier for those with medical
needs to access the drug.

"A lot of people need help from cannabis, but it's hard to get
high-quality cannabis," said Neev Tapiero, CALM's owner, adding that
the clinic's users have rallied in the wake of the closure.

"Everyone's in great spirits; the community is behind
us."

Police officers lined both the north and south sides of the building
behind security fences and shut down part of the street, but no
incidents were reported.

The crowd was a mix, with dreadlock-sporting marijuana legalization
activists rubbing shoulders with sufferers of epilepsy and people with
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, who say the drug helps their conditions.

Kevin Clarke, a homeless man who briefly ran for mayor of Toronto,
appeared at the protest, shouting at police.

Tapiero says it's an uphill battle to get Health Canada to change its
policy around organizations like CALM, referencing recent statements
by Prime Minister Stephen Harper implying he wants to keep a tight lid
on marijuana.

"I understand that people defend the use of drugs, but that said, I
think I've been very fortunate to live a drug-free life and I don't
meet many people who've lead a drug-free life who regret it," the
prime minister said in a YouTube interview on the subject last month.
"So obviously this is something we want to encourage for our children,
for everybody's children."

Ron Marzel, CALM's lawyer, is hoping to file motion next week asking
police to return some of the approximately 18,000 grams of marijuana
and hash to users.

If the motion goes through, he says CALM could be back in
business.

For now, however, the organization is operating without marijuana on
the premises. Instead, it's serving as a place for clients to
co-ordinate for the court battle and organize a campaign of protest
and pressure against Health Canada.

Tapiero is hoping a protest planned for May 1 at Queen's Park will
draw tens of thousands.

Police had no immediate estimate on the size of the crowd, but said
that the protest was peaceful.

CALM has been in existence since 1996 and boasts 3,000 registered
members. Some have a license to consume medicinal marijuana, while
others simply have a doctor's note explaining their condition.