NOTHING ILLEGAL AT POT CONVENTION

Participants at this weekend's third annual Cannabis Convention should
leave their stash at home. Far from being the local equivalent of the
Cannabis Cup, the event is an opportunity for activists to shed some light
on marijuana misinformation, not to trade buds.

"There's not going to be anything illegal going on," says organizer Ted
Smith, coordinator for the Cannabis Buyer's Clubs of Canada. "That's not
the statement we're trying to make. The work that we as activists do is
always behind closed doors. This is an opportunity for us to gather in
public and give people information."

The gathering of like-minded activists-all looking to legalize-is expected
to attract close to 100 people. Featured speakers includes Chris Bennett,
author of Sex, Drugs, Violence and the Bible; university professor Dr.
James Geiwitz, founder of the Canadian Hemp Institute; and Marc Emery,
owner of Cannabis Culture magazine and PotTV.

It's worth nothing that Emery's house was raided by Victoria Police at 3
a.m. on March 5. They had a warrant to look for plants, lights, ballasts,
fans, blowers, fertilizers, scales, or documentation associated with the
production of marijuana in the house. They found nothing.

But it's exactly these kinds of raids that are a waste of police time and
effort and taxpayers' money, says Philippe Lucas.

"It's a real misapplication of police effort," notes Lucas, director of the
Vancouver Island Compassion Society. Lucas' goal at the convention will be
to set the record straight on the bounty of incorrect information which
insists a doobie a day (or a week or a month) will keep good health away.
"It's not a matter of getting these lies out to the public," insists Lucas,
"but the public believes it and people suffer from these lies."

For example, a delegation from the 1,400 member Physicians for a Smoke Free
Canada met with Health Canada officials last week in an attempt to convince
them that toking is a higher health risk than smoking, reportedly because
joints contains more tar and cancer-causing toxins than cigarettes. But
studies like the one done by Geiwitz are showing another side-that the
grass is definitely greener on the "pro" side of the marijuana debate.

In a September, 2001, report for Health Canada, Geiwitz attested that "the
preponderance of evidence clearly indicates that THC (the chemical
component of marijuana) is one of the least toxic chemicals that humans
ingest . . . There have been zero cases of lung cancer or emphysema
attributable to marijuana smoking." Geiwitz concluded that, "Laws
prohibiting marijuana on the basis of health risks cannot be justified by
the research literature."

Lucas would like to see marijuana legalized to allow people to grow and
smoke it in their homes-much as people now brew homemade wine.

"There has to be regulations only if it's on a large scale," Lucas says.
"This would save a lot of police time and effort. I think we need to look
at the finances of it . . . it's not going to be economical to prosecute
[herb users]."

The Cannabis Convention happens March 17 in the Young Building Auditorium
of Camosun College's Landsdowne Campus. Call 381-4220 for more information.