POT RALLY: THEY HUFFED, PUFFED

A pro-marijuana rally and march went ahead Saturday without a permit for
its march portion, but proceeded without serious incident.

According to organizer Tim Felger, the event marked "an epiphany, a change
of attitude" on the part of Abbotsford Police. He estimated about 150
people, many young people, turned out at Mill Lake for the march to City Hall.

But Abbotsford Police spokesman Const. Shinder Kirk called it "a
non-event," and estimated about 75 people showed up.

He noted that were no confrontations, no disputes and no arrests during the
rally, which ended before 3 p.m. that day.

Even though there was no permit for the march to city hall, under the
Abbotsford Special Events bylaw, the event was basically benign, said the
constable.

Felger said the only negative incident took place the night before, when a
man tore down one of the "Legalize Marijuana Now" signs on South Fraser
Way. Police were called and waited until a new sign was erected, said Felger.

"I'm very disappointed that more adults didn't show up," he told the
Abbotsford News yesterday. He had hoped for a turnout of more than 200. "A
lot of them told me they if the cops weren't there, they would have come. A
lot of them said they wouldn't go near the the rally until the cops stop
filming them.

"A thousand people were busted last year in Abbotsford for cultivation, so
they're not going to come," he added.

But the police let them march without incident, which he said shows they've
had "something of an epiphany - they realize it (the war on drugs) is not
worth all the trouble and the money."

He said what is needed is a town hall meeting, where the opposite side gets
equal time, not what he called a "dog and pony show.

"What we need is for Randy White, Chuck Strahl and George Ferguson to hold
a town meeting," said Felger, adding upcoming Supreme Court cases may end
with a decision in the pro-marijuana community's favour.

Felger was the contact for Abbotsford in a lengthy list of cities around
the world where "Liberation Day" was observed Saturday in the Million
Marijuana March.

Literature promoting the event listed the cities alphabetically, starting
with Abbotsford and including such far-flung centres as Bremen, Germany;
Tokyo, Japan and Zagreb, Croatia.

A spokesperson at Abbotsford City Hall confirmed prior to the event that
Liberation Day organizers had only a parks use permit, and that did not
cover any procession along city streets, which would be required under the
Abbotsford Special Events Bylaw.