THE HALIFAX POLICE STATION GOES TO POT

Activist on Cross-Country Tour Lights Up at Cops' Doorstep

Holding a fish-shaped bong over his head, cannabis crusader Marc Emery
shouted, "To freedom!" as he lowered the pot-filled pipe to his lips.

More than 50 people gathered on the steps of the Halifax Regional
Police's Gottingen Street station steps Saturday afternoon in support
of Mr. Emery's cross-Canada pro-pot tour.

Mr. Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine and owner of Pot-TV
and Marc Emery Direct Seeds, is promoting legalization of marijuana
before Parliament reconvenes in the fall.

During the government's spring session, a proposed law decriminalizing
marijuana possession was introduced.

Possession of 15 grams of pot or less would be an offence punishable
by a fine of $100 to $250 for young people and $150 to $400 for adults.

Wearing a black suit, Mr. Emery frequently asked for drinks from the
crowd as he pontificated about pot for about 20 minutes before
lighting up.

An appreciative crowd often interjected comments of support.

"What's marijuana do?" he asked rhetorically.

"It gets me baked," answered a young man wearing a ball cap.

Mr. Emery continued: "I've driven on thousands of occasions on
marijuana, and I have not felt impaired. . . . I have felt enhanced.

He said he's been jailed numerous times for pot smoking and other
civil disobedience.

"Fire her up! Fire her up!" shouted one woman in the crowd as Mr.
Emery lit up.

Several people in the crowd lit joints and passed them around as Mr.
Emery took his first puffs.

Within moments, coughs from the crowd began drowning out Mr. Emery's
words.

He encouraged listeners to become politically active and support the
Marijuana Party.

Mr. Emery said he plans to spend today helping Marijuana Party
candidate Melanie Stephen Patriquen (Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville)
canvass.

Her husband, Michael, is serving a six-year sentence at Westmorland
minimum security prison in New Brunswick for conspiracy to possess and
sell marijuana.

Although he has a medical prescription for marijuana, he has not been
able to get any since being jailed.

"I'm a big fan of Mark Emery's, said a young man in the crowd who
would not give his name.

"I think he has done great things for the movement of drug
reform."

Said another man, who identified himself only as T. J: "I'm here
because I believe that pot should be a free thing.

"It's just a plant. It makes me feel good, feel normal."

Mr. Emery signed autographs for many people in the crowd and praised
Halifax's stance on peaceful pot protests.

At least a couple of plainclothes officers were in the crowd,
listening to Mr. Emery and taking notes.

Mr. Emery's toke-up tour continues with smoking events in Moncton,
Charlottetown and St. John's, Nfld., in the next eight days.