April marks a year since our first issue, two years since Marc Emery founded HempBC, and three years since Vancouver's smoke-in of 1993. We've come a long way in a short time, but we still have much, much farther to go.
Our Milestones documents the development of our organizational skills, with conferences and symposiums springing up across the continent. At the same time however, many Canadian
hemp stores are earning their stripes in battles against harassment and initmidation from the powers that be.
Check out the Hemp BC Bust Update, letting you in on the latest in the continuing saga of the Hemp BC raid of January 4th. We follow that with Lightning Strikes twice in Thunder Bay, the story of two stores that were raided by Ontario Police for selling bongs and pipes in violation of Section 462.2 of the Criminal Code.
All of these raids and attacks are a prelude to the vicious Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, which is now before the Senate and could become law before the end of June. We exp
lain why this Act will bring about nothing but increased misery and
suffering to for all Canadians.
We also present An Alternative Policy to the draconian government proposal. This alternative was drafted by the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy, and it is important that i
t receives a strong and dramatic response from the Canadian public. We all have so much to loose and everything to gain, so please do something to help end this ridiculous persecution.
On April 18th The Hempsters Hit the Senate, as Marc Emery and myself went to the Senate to testify alongside such figures as Larry Duprey and Dr. Alexander Sumach. We give you a su
mmary of our testimony, followed by an extract from Marc's speech before the Senate Committee on Bill C-8.
If Canadians allow the dastardly Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to become law in this country, we will start seeing many more photographs like the one on our cover. David Malmo Levine takes us back to the Grasstown Police Riot of 1971, when Vancouve
r youth held a Street Jamboree, to protest increased police harassment, And the Pigs Went Mad! Vancouver Police waded into the crowd in riot gear, beating peaceful protestors and
bystanders, some of them attacking the crowd from horseback. This sad incident in cannabis history was Vancouver's last major smoke-in until 1993.
Our centerfold-like link this issue is a cartoon about the Grasstown Police Riot by Rand Holmes, first printed on the front cover of the August 9th, 1971, Georgia Straight. Rand's infamous Harold Hedd reminds us all that "Yes, Virginia, there really are Pigs."
After the violence of the Grasstown beating, it's good to remember that cannabis is also a powerful healing medicine, and that millions of people around the world rely upon marijuana as a safe and effective treatment for a wide variety of ailments. Broth
er Leeroy Campbell introduces us to four Canadians who have used Nature's Healing Herb to ease their pain and help heal themselves. Their experiences are an eloquent argument for
an end to our country's fanatical ban on all use of marijuana.
Brother Leeroy is now in Jamaica, working towards an end to cannabis prohibition in that country. Our prayers are with him, and we look forward to hearing from him in future issues.
An odd twist of law in Arizona has resulted in selling marijuana becoming quasi-legal, as long as the dealer has purchased a marijuana tax stamp. Jas Tynan tells us the story of Three Haw
ks Over Phoenix, marijuana activists who have taken full advantage of this strange loophole in the law and their attempts to sell marijuana at the "Superherbowl."
Chris Bennet brings us the latest installment of "When Smoke Gets in My I," his ongoing series about the history of cannabis and human consciousness. Kaneh Bosm, the Hidden Story of Can
nabis in the Old Testament, tells the story of how marijuana was sacred to Moses and the ancient Jews, then later spurned as a devotion to the Goddess.
Although the ancient Semites may have consumed marijuana, it's doubtful that they had access to metal halides or tanks of CO2. Dr. Goodbud imparts the basics of CO2 for THC, as
he concludes his three part series on how to get the best use of these and other implements of the modern age to grow yourself some kick-ass buds.
We conclude this issue with Pought Thots, some of the kudos, corrections and complaints we've received over the past few months, followed by the
Hemp Commercial Directory.
If ever there was a growth industry, this is it. We welcome all bandwagon jumpers and trend followers to get on board the hemp train. Next stop. . .Freedom!
Dana Larsen, editor
Howdy. The staff of Cannabis Canada are great believers in freedom of information, and so when every new issue of the magazine comes out, the last one begins to peek it's pretty head online. We encourage you to copy and dessiminate the information in ou
r magazine as widely as possible. All we ask is that you notify us, and that you credit Cannabis Canada and the author if you reprint one of our stories.
That aside, it would seem that the net readers of CC deserve a little extra, for waiting around an extra two months for each issue, and for not wasting trees/recycled paper/valuable hempstock for the printed copy.
So we've added some colour to the mostly black-and-white illustrations, and we'll try to include a few extra tidbits now and in the future.
Thanks for reading the magazine online. While you'll miss some great advertising, David Cheong's fabulous layout, and a lovely package, I hope the portability and availability of CC online makes it worthwhile. Not to mention the articles.
Remember what the omni-wise Lord of the Roaches (PBWH) pointed out to me: Cannabis and Computers go together very well.
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