NATION OF POT USERS TO CELEBRATE MONDAY

Never mind the name. Marijuana will be the order of the day for area
residents Nov. 15.

International Medical Marijuana Day, being celebrated for a seventh year in
the City of Victoria, is a creation of Cannabis Buyer's Club co-founder Ted
Smith of Victoria. He is an oft-criminally charged advocate for better
access to marijuana within Canada for chronically ill patients, as well as
the legalization of pot in general.

In previous court decisions, including one of Smith's, judges threw cases
out because it could not be proven Health Canada was adhering to its own
pledge to supply marijuana to people who qualified for it. Since the
government's grower in Flin Flon, Man. has started sending out its supply,
the rules have changed, said Smith.

"Now we have to prove we're better than they are," he said, referring to
the quality issues. "Before it was easy. They weren't doing anything."
Philippe Lucas of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society has a different
take on the official day.

"Every day is Medical Marijuana Day, because every day there are Canadians
who have need for this medicine, who can't access it through legal means,"
he said.

The day's events include the second annual art auction in the public
meeting room at the downtown public library at 2 p.m., and a one-hour
slideshow presentation about the history of the Cannabis Buyer's Club from
3-4 p.m.