Prohibition, pot
and politics

>>The marijuana movement gears up for a
big party and a fight against a tough new crime bill

THE BRAINS BEHIND THE BUD: (L to R) Boris St-Maurice,
Charlie McKenzie, Shantal Arroyo and Adam Greenblatt

by PATRICK LEJTENYI

There’s a certain strong odour a visitor notices when first stepping into the Compassion Club medicinal marijuana distribution centre on Rachel and St-Laurent. It doesn’t take any time to figure out what it is. Marijuana activists have called the building home for years, and, if Boris St-Maurice gets his way, the weed will make it back to the forefront of a national dialogue sooner probably than the federal Conservative Party would like.

The politics of pot have fallen a long way since the early, heady days at the beginning of the decade, when the Chrétien Liberals were getting ready to decriminalize small amounts for personal possession. The sponsorship scandal soon led to more politically important matters, however, and the decrim bill died when Parliament dissolved, and soon the issue was snuffed out when Stephen Harper became Prime Minister in early 2006.

But pot is back, but not in the way St-Maurice and many other marijuana activists and aficionados would like. The federal justice committee is preparing to study Bill C-26, an amendment to the Controlled Substances Act, which would impose mandatory minimum sentences for drug-related crimes—and has left pot smokers fuming.

“C-26 will probably [benefit] hardened criminals and widen the gap between mom and pop growers by bringing in a more criminal element,” he says. “It’ll clog the justice system, expand prisons… and take away judges’ discretion in sentencing.”

St-Maurice and, he hopes, thousands of other Montreal pot smokers will no doubt be denouncing the bill between tokes at this year’s installment of the Marijuana March, slated for Saturday, May 3, starting at Berri Square. The hour-long march will wind its way through the Plateau before ending up at Maisonneuve and Clark for an outdoor concert and, most likely, more toking.

(Montreal is just one city hosting a march. According to www.globalmarijuanamarch.org, marches are being organized in 222 cities, including Luanda, Angola, Beirut, Belgrade, Moscow, Rio and over 120 cities and towns in the U.S.)

Goodbye mom and pop

The politics of pot have indeed hit hard times. While ever-growing numbers of people of all ages are smoking—a recent study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health showed a marked increase in use among Ontario adults, from eight per cent who’d consumed cannabis at least once in 1977 to 14 per cent in 2005, and the average user’s age rose from 26 to 31—in the political world, the right to smoke recreational marijuana isn’t catching on. Indeed, far from it. The Harper government, say critics, are still taking lessons in pursuing a war on drugs from the United States, with all the attendant failings.

“Mandatory minimums have been an unmitigated disaster,” says Eugene Oscapella, an Ottawa lawyer, criminology professor at the University of Ottawa and a founder of the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy (and, he says, not a marijuana smoker). “It boggles my mind that anyone can look to the U.S. as a model for anything except as a colossal failure.”

Of the 2.3 million prisoners in the United States, he says, one quarter are in jail for drug-related offences, mostly for marijuana possession. A vast segment of the population with criminal records, Oscapella says, leads to fewer job opportunities, fractured homes and shattered communities.

He agrees with St-Maurice that C-26 will scare away the mom and pop growers, to the benefit of organized crime—which is ironic, since Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, when unveiling the legislation last November, said, “We want to put organized crime out of business.”

“The proposed set of mandatory minimum penalties simply does not target minor drug offenders,” writes Nicholson’s press secretary Darren Eke in an e-mail. “Only those drug traffickers who have aggravating factors in their cases, such as using violence or selling drugs near schools, will be eligible to receive the mandatory minimum sentence...Breaking Canada’s complacent attitude towards illicit drugs will require huge efforts.”

Intimidating small growers, Oscapella says, “leaves a vacuum. Organized crime doesn’t care about the law, and they won’t be intimidated…. Many people will be frightened, but those are the people we should be the least worried about.”

The Liberals and the Bloc supported the bill, but both had their critiques. But the sharpest denunciations came from the NDP’s justice critic Joe Comartin and Libby Davies, who represents Vancouver’s grungy Downtown Eastside.

“It’s a redundant, unnecessary and harmful bill,” says Davies. “It’s all about optics for the Conservatives…. Prohibition is a failed model. All this bill does is give us the illusion that they’re doing something. It’s a dividing tactic, playing on people’s fears.”

Davies, Oscapella and St-Maurice all agree that deterrence has never worked, and there’s no reason a tougher bill with mandatory minimums and lengthier stretches in jail would change that.

Status confusion

Back in Montreal, St-Maurice says there is still a lot of confusion on marijuana and its legal status. Because the decrim issue garnered so much media attention when it was being floated as a very real possibility, many people believe it already passed. But the law remains the same as it did in 1996—marijuana is a controlled substance, and possession of it is illegal.

“With all these laws and motions and debates, nothing’s really changed,” he says.

But, says Hugo St-Onge, the leader of the provincial political party Bloc Pot, if there’s confusion, the march’s organizers are doing a decent job of sowing it. St-Maurice founded the party 10 years ago, but left mid-decade following an internal split.

“The organizers didn’t invite us, but we put the flyer up on our Web site,” St-Onge says. “People going around saying, ‘You can’t arrest me because it’s legal’ are still mixing up people who are already confused…. Cannabis is still not legal. That’s disinformation on the part of organizers.”

There have been strides against prohibition via the courts, especially in Ontario, but that, he says, has largely been due to the skillful work of lawyers like Alan Young exploiting loopholes and technicalities. Those kinds of victories, he says, “create a bad dynamic without changing anything. It creates the idea that the issue is settled.”

St-Onge admits that the party is in something of a political wilderness these days, but that’s thanks partly to the vagaries of political activism. But he will be at the march with an information booth, talking to people about where exactly the law stands now. “The Bloc Pot is very precise in explaining the situation. We’ll be distributing cards, flyers and application forms for people who want to become candidates” in future provincial elections.

Looking for the big corporate sponsors

Montreal remains a good place to get stoned. Several sources contacted for this article say that Quebec is growing more pot these days than British Columbia (although, due to the nature of the activity, it’s impossible to say if it’s true or not), and the police are generally more tolerant of pot smokers. St-Maurice says that, statistically, Quebec has the lowest level of pot-related arrests in the country.

“There’s a new generation of cops, and they smoke dope,” says Shantal Arroyo, the march’s coordinator. So do a lot of musicians, but she found that many of them don’t want to play at a political event openly associated with marijuana.

Relations between police and the marijuana activists are generally good, says St-Maurice. “We give them the respect they deserve. We don’t want to dissolve the establishment, so they respect us. We’re not anti-cop.”

(There are limits to police tolerance: St-Maurice says the police asked him that there be no overt dealing or massive, foot-long joints at the march.)

Ideally, St-Maurice says, future marches will be as mainstream as possible. “I’d love to see Paul McCartney, Madonna and Celine there, and Pepsi and Doritos as sponsors,” he says. “There’s a huge potential market there. They’d reap millions in revenue from thirsty, hungry potheads. If marketers could only figure that out.”

High five

>>The most popular pot strains in Quebec, as reviewed by a panel of potheads

In the interests of pseudo-science, the Mirror asked two Montreal marijuana experts, activist Boris St-Maurice and pot writer David Strange, to review the most common buds local pot lovers can find. Here’s what they had to say.

NB: Indica: More sedative, body buzz, pain killer; Sativa: More stimulant, head buzz, reduces spasms

M-39 (Indica)

BS-M: The old reliable. A standard in the industry. Characterized by its light, lime-green colour, tight dense buds and a peppery aroma. Smokes very smooth and won’t stink up your place. Commonly grown indoor and outdoor.

DS: The King of Commercial. This is the go-to strain for the “pump and dump” growers trying to make weight in a hurry. Already one of the faster maturing strains around, much of it tends to get cut early, leaving the high with a little something to be desired in the power category. Tight, hard buds with lots of orange hairs are the normal aesthetic. A fairly mild- smelling and tasting bud, with a stone slightly on the lethargic side. Originally a Northern Lights/Skunk cross, the selections in Montreal lean to the indica end of the spectrum.

Northern Lights 9 (Indica)

BS-M: A variation on M-39, used to be known as an exotic variety until being distributed so widely it is practically as available as M-39. Tight buds, slightly darker than M-39, has a sweeter smell but also not a serious stinker.

DS: This strain basically ruled at the harvest cups of the early ’90s and has been the base for many crosses. A pure indica with Afghani roots that matures quickly yet offers more flavour and high than the M-39. Known for the classic “couchlock” high, the buds offer a lemony taste and strong buzz.

Jack Herrer (Sativa)

BS-M: The more recent arrival on the scene, as discerning connoisseurs started demanding sativas, Jack Herrer started becoming more widespread. Longer, wispier buds but with lots of resin and a sweet smell, this strain is harder to find because not all growers are willing to spend the extra time it takes to grow them.

DS: This is the measuring stick of sativas in town. Generally fetching the highest price, this stuff is worth it. A soaring high unlike any of the indicas, “The Jack” is known for its psychoactive silliness. Doing math is probably out and don’t be surprised to find yourself giggling like a schoolgirl.

Freezland (Sativa)

BS-M: Another classic from la belle province, freezland was originally named after a northern part of Holland, but as Quebec’s outdoor season can be rough, this hearty variety is well adapted to our climate. It has a pine tree aroma and a very characteristic soaring sativa high. Very rarely, if ever, grown indoors.

DS: Originally a Swiss strain, this genetic has been Quebec’s most infamous outdoor variety since the late ’80s. An indica with a heavy stone that leaves a rich citrus on the palette—this one’s a real stinker! While there are several versions floating around now, when grown properly, they all tend to give a lot of bang for the buck ’cause outdoor is cheap like borscht in Montreal.

White Widow (Sativa)

BS-M: This is a long-flowering sativa with an overpowering, tangy, skunky aroma. Passersby can pick up a whiff of just a gram in your pocket 10 feet away. Very red, rust coloured buds, this strain is sometimes referred to as Jean-Guy.

DS: This baby’s won a heap of trophies like the High Times Cannabis Cup for good reason. A sativa with a sharp, almost acrid taste that some love yet others find too intense, this is some high caliber chronic. When you get some good Widow, it really packs a punch, but there’s a lot of faux-dow just copping on the name that’s none so good.

The letter of the law

>>What to expect from Bill C-26

• One- to two-year mandatory prison sentences for the production, possession for the purposes of trafficking and importing/exporting.

• Length of sentences depend on “aggravating factors” such as prior drug offences, if trafficking takes place in areas where there are young people or children, if health or safety of children, property, residential property or property of a third party is threatened.

• Sentences relating to possession, trafficking, importing/exporting mostly depend on quantities. However, mandatory sentences for production of even one plant calls for a minimum sentence of six months. The mandatory minimum for growing over 500 plants is two years, with a maximum 14 years.

Cocaine, Heroin, Methamphetamine etc.:

• One- to three-year mandatory sentences for the production and/or possession for the purposes of trafficking and importing/exporting.

• Sentences are not related to quantities.

• Sentences do relate to “aggravating factors” as outlined for marijuana.

Other:

• Tougher penalties will be introduced for trafficking GHB and Rohypnol (i.e. the so-called date-rape drugs) n

Source: Libby Davies February 2008 backgrounder, Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy, Cannabisfacts.ca