KELVIN POT PROTEST A MEDIA AFFAIR

School Uses Pro-Marijuana Demonstration As 'Teachable Moment' About Free Speech

The pro-marijuana circus came to Kelvin High School yesterday, got
its organizer the media attention he craved, gave a few dozen kids a
chance to goof around, then disappeared like smoke in the wind.

Chris Buors brought his Manitoba Cannabis Party fringe political
movement to the sidewalk outside Kelvin, trying to persuade kids to
put the "high" in high school.

Buors, an advocate of the elimination of state controls on all drugs,
wanted to counter the "persecution and demonization" of seven alleged
student drug dealers arrested and expelled in an undercover police
operation at Kelvin late last year.

Buors compared the busted kids to witches burned at the stake by the
Inquisition, and -- shouting over hecklers and ducking the occasional
snowball -- claimed that they are every bit as much martyrs and human
rights crusaders as blacks who fought segregation in the U.S. 50
years ago.

About 50 of the school's 1,350 students popped outside to watch the
media frenzy, some choosing to catch a smoke break -- all tobacco,
apparently -- and shiver in the cold.

"They have the right to be here," said Grade 11 student Nick Badger.
"He's not coming up to you; you can go up to him." Badger predicted
Kelvin will have higher-than-normal applications for spaces next
fall, because parents will be happy that principal Glen Eliasson is
cracking down on drug dealers.

One mother said she hung around in the background yesterday to get in
her kids' faces if they showed up to support Buors.

"I support the administration. This needs to be a drug-free safe
zone," said social worker Ruth Zetner. "It's everywhere, it doesn't
matter which school. They face this pressure every day at school."

Teachers stayed inside watching, as did a uniformed police officer.

Eliasson said he designated the second period for classroom
discussion to use the demonstration as "a teachable moment" on the
rights of free speech and respect for divergent opinions.

He said he does not regret agreeing to the undercover police
operation, but added: "Nobody set out to have it become a media
circus. "A plus from all that: Hopefully, parents and kids did a
whole lot of talking."