PRO-CANNABIS J DAY ORGANISERS UPSET AT VENUE BAN

Organisers of the pro-cannabis J Day in downtown Auckland today are upset
at being told they had to move from their publicised venue.

Weather permitting, the event was to start at noon at Albert Park instead
of Aotea Square, where the National Organisation for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws (Norml) has a stall at the weekend market.

President Chris Fowlie said Norml was told by The Edge, which manages the
square, in a phone call this week that the event did not comply with the
idea of "family values" for a public area.

Mr Fowlie said cannabis smokers were being treated like "second-class
citizens".

"Permitted Aotea Square activities include St Patrick's Day drunkenness."

J Day has been held at Albert Park in the past, and Mr Fowlie said speakers
today would include Green MP Nandor Tanczos.

A spokeswoman for The Edge said J Day organisers had not made a formal
application to book the square.

But she also indicated that any application would have been turned down.

"We have worked very hard to establish the square as a family friendly
venue," she said.

"We would not approve an event at which illegal drugs were being used."