CRACKDOWN AT HEMPFEST TOO SEVERE

Organizers and attendees at an annual cannabis festival east of Sault
Ste. Marie say police used a RIDE check as a cover while officers
staged a deliberate crackdown on marijuana users last weekend.

This event has been going on for years without incident. If those who
are complaining are correct, and the intensity of the checks was
stepped up, we would like to know why.

Rob Waddell, the festival's organizer, said he thinks police used the
impaired driving checks as a ploy to do drug searches, taking the
unusual step of questioning passengers, and doing rigorous
documentation checks and safety checks.

While police reported doing five roadside tests as a result of the
RIDE check, "there wasn't one impaired charge, there wasn't one
12-hour suspension," said Waddell.

"It was a definite, deliberate crackdown to dissuade people from
going to the festival, to intimidate people that were at the
festival," he said.

Ontario Provincial Police laid 32 drug charges and four weapons
charges, along with a string of Highway Traffic Act charges, during
what was described in a press release as an "extremely successful
three-day RIDE initiative," in Havilah, a small hamlet close to the
Hempfest site.

We've got no problem with RIDE checks at such events, but considering
that there were no impaired-related charges, was it really a success?

Those who attended Hempfest wouldn't describe it that way.

"I've got letters from about five lawyers today," said Waddell, who
sells seeds and other cannabis related products at his Queen Street
store, Planetary Pride. "It's going to get interesting, I think."

Far too much police manpower is spent on marijuana which is arguably
less dangerous than alcohol. If it were legalized, most of the
criminal element surrounding pot would wither away.

It's time our lawmakers became a little more mature with how we deal
with marijuana use.