The Politics of pot
4/7/10
Pot politician Dana Larsen, shown here at a rally outide the B.C. Supreme Court in early 2008, hopes that more lenient rhetoric in the States will resonate with the Harper conservatives Photo by Uncleweed (flickr
ANTIGONISH, N.S. (CUP) — As one of the country's foremost marijuana legalization activists, Dana Larsen knows the score when it comes to pot laws in Canada.
He's been involved in the marijuana debate in various capacities: as a politician, as an entrepreneur and as editor of the alternative magazine Cannabis Culture, alongside Canada's “prince of pot,” Marc Emery. His most recent project has been the publication of a parody called Hairy Pothead and the Marijuana Stone.
Larsen made his formal entry into Canadian politics as a co-founder of both the B.C. Marijuana Party and the Marijuana Party of Canada. Although he jumped to the NDP in 2003, Larsen says he still views the Marijuana Party as an important educational tool, though not a realistic electoral one.
“Under our first-past-the-post system, there’s not a hope in hell the Marijuana Party is ever going to elect anybody,” he comments. “Really, the goal of the Marijuana Party (is) to educate politicians, to educate other people. You get a great platform in an election.”
In 2008, he was the NDP candidate for a BC riding during the federal election, but resigned his candidacy following the release of a controversial video of him allegedly under the influence of marijuana and LSD.
Last summer, Larsen was banned from the federal NDP convention in Halifax after the party's spokesperson accused him of vote-buying for a pro-legalization resolution he submitted to the convention.
He spent the duration of the event standing on the street in Halifax wearing a sign that read: "I was banned from the NDP convention. Ask me why."
Though he may battle with some members of the party leadership, Larsen remains an active member of the NDP and works to encourage drug policy reform.
"I've never had a single NDP member say anything bad to me or criticize me or give me any kind of negativity at all, but within the upper echelons in the party, I think they're worried about me," he claims. "They see me as a loose cannon."
Larsen suspects that the reason legalization doesn’t have much political traction is due in part to the construction of the issue in the media.
“There’s always some sort of pun, or making fun of the issue (in the media),” he says. “But really, it’s something that affects our lives very directly. Many peoples’ lives are ruined by marijuana prohibition and many lives are saved by the benefits of marijuana.”
Activists continue to face the challenge of asserting their own credibility in a political climate hostile toward loosening drug laws.
“It’s always a concern of anyone who promotes drug policy reform — you get tagged as a stoner. I am," he laughs. "I smoke marijuana everyday.”
“I think I’m the first person who has run for a mainstream party who admitted he was a chronic marijuana user. There are plenty of people who say, ‘I used to smoke pot,’ " he notes. “I would hope that one day, people who smoke pot are involved in politics just like those who drink alcohol — because our political system is awash with alcohol drinkers.”
Cannabis is a sticky issue. Fluctuating severity of enforcement, constant political babble and increasing social acceptability have many Canadians confused as to what can happen when they light up.
Prohibition
"The current laws in Canada constitute prohibition," explains Larsen, who is one of Canada's most active drug-policy reform advocates. "The only real change recently has been that medical marijuana has opened up quite a bit. About 2,000 Canadians now have permission to grow and possess marijuana for medicinal uses."
The use of marijuana for recreational use, however, is a different story.
According to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, of possession under 30 grams of marijuana in Canada can lead, in most circumstances, to a summary conviction offence — a fine up to $1000 or six months in prison.
More severe penalties can be prescribed for amounts over 30 grams, or if possession is enhanced by the presence of significant amounts of cash, individually-packaged “dime bags”, scales, or lists of money owed, as this can be considered possession for the purpose of trafficking.
No mandatory minimum sentences currently exist in Canada for drug offences.
Stephen Harper's Conservative government, however, has been trying to institute a minimum penalty. The federal government introduced the controversial Bill C-15 during the 40th session of the Canadian Parliament. It marked the second major attempt by the Tories to curb serious drug crimes through legislation designed to dish out stiffer penalties.
Legalization activists decried the bill, calling the mandatory minimums for marijuana-related offences "draconian."
In the original bill, cultivation of between five and 201 marijuana plants for the purpose of trafficking would have earned a mandatory minimum of six months in prison. By the time prorogation killed the bill in the Senate, amendments from the upper house ensured that those who cultivate up to 200 plants on their own property for the purpose of trafficking were safe from a mandatory minimum, without the presence of “aggravating factors.”
These factors include the presence of weapons, unsafe or booby-trapped cultivation locations, proximity to a public area to which cultivation could pose a danger, or the use of a third party's property.
A representative from the Beyond Prohibition Foundation was quoted by the Georgia Straight last December stating that those caught cultivating even a single marijuana plant, who did not do so on their own property, would be subject to mandatory minimum of nine months in prison.
Additionally, the original bill stipulated increased penalties for trafficking marijuana, with a mandatory minimum sentence of one year if the offence was committed "for the benefit of organized crime." This clause has some marijuana activists concerned, because the definition of organized crime is extremely vague in Canada and can be applied to a group as small as three people.
Although it died with prorogation, the bill is expected to be reintroduced in its original form in the Senate during the current parliamentary session.
Oddly, new hope for legalization is coming from south of the border, while penalties become more sever in traditionally cannabis-lenient Canada.
Role Reversal
"There’s been a loosening under Obama, which (has) opened things up a lot," explains Larsen. "Although they haven’t changed any laws federally, they’ve changed some of their rhetoric, and they’ve backed off from the confrontational stance they used to have."
In California, a battle has been waging for years between the state authorities that legalized medical marijuana dispensaries and the Drug Enforcement Agency, which routinely raided and shut down these legal operations. Now it appears the raids will cease, and medical marijuana continues to gain legitimacy in the state.
This news is exciting for medical marijuana advocates, confirms Larsen.
"Under previous administrations under Bill Clinton or George Bush . . . they would have done everything they could to have shut this down. Obama’s done nothing. He hasn’t supported it or said anything positive about it, or mentioned it at all, but he’s done nothing to stop it. That’s as much as we can probably hope for with the new administration."
This coming November, citizens of California will likely vote on whether or not to legalize the cultivation and possession of marijuana, which would be a first for modern North American drug policy.
"I'm really hoping it gets on (the ballot)," says Jake Kiley, guitarist for California punk rockers Strung Out. "It will definitely pass."
This could set the precedent for what Cpl. Ron Bryce of the RCMP Street Crimes unit describes as an essential condition for the successful legalization of marijuana in Canada.
"If it were legalized, I think the key would be that it were legalized in the States as well," Bryce says. "If it was legalized in Canada, and still illegal in the States, you're still going to have people producing it here, and exporting it to the United States and selling it there."
With files from the Canadian Government, Cannabis Culture and the Georgia Straight
Add a comment
Comments published on this website are the opinion of the commenter and not the Phoenix Newspaper. The Phoenix reserves the right to withdraw submissions from publication for any reason. Any reason could be material deemed to be sexist, racist, homophobic, or of poor taste or quality.