POT SMOKERS FIGHTING PROPOSED LAW AT 420 RALLY

NEW BILL: Conservatives proposing new bill

Potsmokers will fill Canada's jails if a new a Conservative bill to
hand out mandatory sentences for marijuana growers is passed, says a
marijuana activist organizing Saturday's pro-pot rally in Niagara Falls.

"If you've got one plant, you're going to be facing the same sentence
as somebody with 200 plants," said Marko Ivancicevic, a Toronto
advocate for legalizing marijuana.

"There are certainly other aspects of criminal activity that goes on
they could be using their resources and minds on, other than people
who grow pot."

Marijuana smokers will take aim at the bill at a rally in Niagara
Falls Saturday. The Anti-Prohibition Rally has become an annual rite
of spring in Niagara Falls. Organizers pick the city because
provincial Highway 420 runs through the city.

In pot-smoking culture, 4:20 p. m., is considered the best time of
day to toke up.

This is the sixth year for the rally which is held on the weekend
closest to April 20 -4-20.

Bill C-15 is an amendment to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
If it's passed into law, it would require judges to give jail time to
people convicted of growing marijuana plants for the purposes of
trafficking. Someone caught growing up to 200 plants would get six
months in jail. For a crop of 201 to 500 plants, the sentence would
be one year.

C-15 is being shepherded through Parliament by Canada's Justice
Minister Rob Nicholson, who coincidentally represents Niagara Falls,
the site of the marijuana rally. "I won't be attending," Nicholson said.

Marijuana activists are overreacting to his bill because it's aimed
at people running signifi cant growing facilities, raising a big
enough crop to traffic in marijuana.

"I don't agree with the people who are growing these three or four
plants, but this bill is not targeted at them," Nicholson said. "If
it's for your own use, you don't get the mandatory penalty which is
six months."

Trafficking is the key to mandatory jail time, Nicholson said.

"It's not targeted at 'recreational users.' It's for people who are
into possession for the purposes of trafficking."

C-15 has passed second reading in the House of Commons and has been
referred to the justice committee for study. It could be back for a
third and final vote by the end of the month and could be the law of
the land by the end of the year, Nicholson said.

Cracking down on the traffi cking of Canada's marijuana production is
important, Nicholson said, because the pot grown in Canada is used as
"currency" for the importation of harder drugs like cocaine and
heroin from around the world.

Nicholson said law enforcement and provincial government officials
are convinced the cultivation of marijuana is tied to organized crime.

"If they want to get into this business there will be some serious
consequences," Nicholson said.

Since coming to power in 2006, mandatory sentences have been part of
the Conservatives anti-crime strategy. Jail time proposed for growing
pot is at the low end of the mandatory sentences Conservatives have
brought in. Nicholson's Tackling Violent Crime Act, for example,
imposed a mandatory five-year sentence for people convicted of using
a gun while committing a crime.

Ivancicevic said marijuana users are concerned about the definition
of "trafficking."

"Here's the thing with our law system. I can get charged with
trafficking for passing you a joint," he said.

Ivancicevic said he expects 200 to 300 people for Saturday's rally,
many of them travelling here by bus from Toronto.

Niagara Regional Police are aware of the annual rally, during which
many of the marijuana activists have lit up their own marijuana cigarettes.

Police have traditionally overlooked obvious possession infractions
during the rally.

They play a security role to ensure the safety of the demonstrators
as they march from a gathering area on Victoria Avenue near Highway
420 to Clifton Hill and into Queen Victoria Park.

Police have never had any problems with the annual 420 rally, said
NRP spokeswoman Const. Jacquie Forgeron.

"The key here is that we do not have problems at this event. We will
however intervene if public safety becomes a concern," Forgeron said.

A patrol sergeant in a cruiser and two officers on bikes are expected
to provide security for the demonstration. Officers from the special
enforcement unit have also been requested to attend.

"We do not intervene in the event unless a need to (intervene) should
exist. One or two officers on bikes with the patrol sergeant is
sufficient to ensure the marchers and public are safe," Forgeron said.