Pot prohibition
As proprietor of an Ottawa, Ontario hemp store, I wish to express my
disappointment that St. Johns police chose to raid the store Hempware
and subsequently lay charges under section 462.2 of the criminal code.
This law allows a $100,000 fine and/or six months in jail for the person
convicted of selling an acrylic tube with a hole in it, or any other
merchandise that authorities deem to be drug paraphernalia. Though
several people have been charged with this offence, a conviction has yet
to be secured in a Canadian courtroom.
In the five years that I have operated my store in Ottawa, none of my
encounters with local police have been less than pleasant. Mutual
respect has worked quite well so far. My clientele, after all, are just
plain folk and I certainly dont think of them as criminals. I see them
more as students, doctors, housewives, and public servants, high tech
workers and trades people. If anything in this country transcends
cultural and economic barriers, it has to be marijuana use.
Every serious study commissioned so far has shown marijuana to be less
harmful to peoples health than alcohol or tobacco. Pot smokers do not
get rowdy or behave in any manner that is out of character. To arrest
and imprison pot smokers is persecution, plain and simple. We harm no
one including ourselves.
The days of pot prohibition will one day be looked at as a dark and
foolish part of our history. Please drop the charges and give Nycky her
bongs back. These laws do more to ruin peoples lives than marijuana ever
could.
Mike Foster

Ottawa, Ontario