LIGHTING UP A JOINT FOR CANNABIAN DAY

National Marijuana Party Leader In N.S. To Celebrate

It was a cloudy Saturday in the park - the band played Jimi Hendrix,
people tossed around a Frisbee, smokers inhaled pot and there were
plenty of munchies to snack on.

For the leader of the Marijuana Party of Canada, Saturday's
cannabis-awareness day at the Halifax Common was a time to celebrate.

"I guess it's the marijuana equivalent of gay pride - come out of the
closet and show that you support ending marijuana prohibition and
enjoy cannabis," said Marc-Boris St-Maurice.

About 25 people were on the Common for the early part of a six-hour
event called Cannabian Day, a marijuana love-in held in several
communities across Canada.

Mr. St-Maurice, a 34-year-old Montrealer and former rock bassist, said
times have changed since marijuana use was strictly taboo.

"We've come a long way," he said, a few minutes before sitting down to
roll and then smoke a joint.

"Five years ago, it may have been almost unthinkable to have a
(public) stage and a sound system and . . . marijuana - God, the cops
will stop you before you step foot in the park.

"We've now come to a point where I think it's hard to deny pot smokers
as being a legitimate constituency and as people who have rights."

The reefer rally attracted local entrepreneurs hoping to hook
potential customers assembled on a basketball court.

Among items for sale: a 1.5-metre-high bong costing $125, small
smoking kits, pipes made in British Columbia and a $26 hidden wall
safe that fits behind a fake electrical outlet.

Organizer Mike Stackhouse, of Dartmouth, said Ottawa should forget
about decriminalizing pot use and legalize the drug.

"The laws regarding cannabis should just be dropped," he
said.

A Halifax Regional Police spokesman said officers weren't instructed
to check out the Cannabian Day party.

"For us, it was a non-issue," said Sgt. David Reynolds.

The Chretien government intends to change the law and relax legal
penalties for pot users. Police agencies strongly oppose the move, and
a new national organization has publicly urged Parliament to back away
from the plan.

The 54,000-member Canadian Professional Police Association says soft
pot laws will lead to family problems, unsafe communties and more
profits for organized crime.

Solicitor General Wayne Easter has said Ottawa knows that enforcement
of anti-marijuana laws and court sentences aren't uniform.

But under the proposed legislation, he told a recent police conference
in Halifax, "we'll bring some uniformity and consistency for laws
across the country and we hope that the law enforcement community will
act on those laws."

Though Mr. St-Maurice refused to say how long he's been using
cannabis, he acknowledged he has a marijuana-related criminal record
stretching back to his teens.

Single and childless, the articulate pot politician is not averse to
dispensing some parental-sounding advice with a little largesse.

Asked by a man in the park for spare change, Mr. St-Maurice found that
he had none and instead gave him a $10 bill.

"It's your lucky day," he told the grateful panhandler. "Don't spend
it all on drugs."