POT ADVOCATES MAKE A FINANCIAL ARGUMENT WITH 'BONDS'

In an effort to raise $25,000 to cover the cost of marijuana-related legal
battles, the Victoria-based International Hempology 101 Society is selling
bonds that can be redeemed for marijuana once the substance is legalized.

One thousand $25 Cannabonds have been printed using a unique payback scheme.
Co-founder of the society and the Cannabis Buyers' Clubs of Canada, Ted
Smith, explains that purchasers can redeem them for seven grams of cannabis
three months after one of two things happens: either laws prohibiting the
cultivation, trafficking and possession of pot are permanently struck down
by the Supreme Court of Canada, or new laws are passed making those things
legal.

Smith is confident the public will support the initiative, pointing out that
38 Cannabonds were sold before the official launch last Friday. "We believe
very strongly that the support is there," he says. "This is an opportunity
for everybody who has watched us for years to actually, for the first time,
help us. We've really been in our own little corner for a very long time and
there's not been many places or opportunities for people to give us
support."

The Cannabis Buyers' Clubs provide marijuana and cannabis-based products to
people with incurable and terminal medical conditions. Hempology 101, a
sister organization that has been in operation for seven years, is a
non-profit society with 1,100 members who educate the public about the
medicinal properties of marijuana.

"At this point, the issuing of Cannabonds is intended to provide immediate
relief to the Cannabis Buyers' Club by having the society loan or give the
money to those individuals who have been keeping the club going through this
very trying time," says Smith.

About $10,000 of the first $25,000 will fund lawyer fees, he adds.

According to Smith, the Hempology Society, located in a bookstore at 826
Johnson St., has been raided four times in the past two years by the
Victoria police.

Smith says the Hempology Society will continue to operate in spite of police
raids and subsequent court battles.

"To turn our backs on these people (who need medical marijuana) is the last
thing that we would ever consider," he says. "Most of us would rather be in
jail than stop helping these people."

While Smith recognizes that legalization of marijuana is a long way off, he
says the money is needed today to continue to fight for it. "For those of us
who are involved in the movement and committed to it, we see no end result
other than legalization," he says.

The initiative does not concern the Victoria police department, says staff
Sgt. Kevin Worth.

"We don't take a position on fund-raising, even for this cause," he says.
"It sounds like an innovative way to try and raise money for the defense of
people who are charged with criminal offenses."