COP-SHOP POT PARTY PLANNED

Winnipeg police headquarters is not the kind of place you'd normally expect
to see people blazing up a doobie.

But that's exactly what will happen today at 4:20 p.m. -- the
internationally recognized time for smoking pot -- when B.C. marijuana
activist Marc Emery will lead a rally called The Great Canadian Smokeout
outside the police force's Princess Street headquarters.

"Police are not enforcing the law in Ontario, and the idea is to extend that
non-enforcement across the country," said Chris Buors, a Winnipeg member of
the Marijuana Party of Canada who's helping Emery organize the event.

Last month, the Ontario Association of Police Chiefs asked cops not to
charge anyone possessing less than 30 grams of marijuana until proposed
changes to Canada's drug laws are clarified.

Buors said he expects between 20 and 50 people at the rally and isn't
worried about sparking up right under the noses of Winnipeg's finest.

"The only way to get the message out is to flaunt it," he said.

However, police spokesman Bob Johnson said the tokers might be in for a
downer of an afternoon.

"It's pretty simple. If they break the law, they'll be arrested, because
there's been no changes in the law to date," he said.

Today's rally kicks off Emery's Summer of Legalization Tour, which includes
similar smoke-outs in cities across the country.