The Canadian cities with the largest pothead populations may be Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, but Edmonton's cannabis community stands out. When the modern era of hemp rallies began, Edmonton had big ones in May, July, and October of 1993. While most cities struggle to have one active legalization organization, Edmonton has two.

Above Ground

Defending the powerless

    The Cannabis Relegalization Society of Alberta (CRSA) was begun in 1994 by Amanda Stewart of the True North Hemp Company. Aside from putting on the annual labour day Hempfest celebration, the Society has jumped into the role of defender of the powerless by helping some people with their legal hassles.
    The first hassled Edmontonian is Ken Poirier. His crime was to smoke pot across the hall from a couple having a domestic dispute. When the cop came to investigate, he smelled the tell-tale perfume and forced Ken out of his apartment, allegedly without reading him his rights and deaf to his pleas to not leave his six year old daughter at home alone. "He didn't even believe that my daughter was in the apartment." exclaimed Ken.
    Ken's possession charge was a summary offense, bad enough for a criminal record but judged not serious enough to qualify for Legal Aid. Ken couldn't even get help from the busy Student Legal Services, traditionally a source of discount
    The CRSA got wind of Ken's troubles. They referred him to a good lawyer, Michael Fuhrman, who gave him a deal. Michael began to look into it and the prosecution decided to drop the charges altogether.

Rallies & Festivals

    Amanda organized a rally on April 24 and a screening of the film "Hemp Revolution" on April 30, and will be organizing a rally on behalf of Brian Tilly, an American grower and smuggler caught after the TV program "America's Most Wanted" did a profile on him.
    Amanda will also be coordinating the 1997 Freedom Festival, slated for September 1 1997. There will be a fashion show, an auction and guest speakers such as hempstore owners Marc Emery, Ian Hunter and Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy co-founder Eugene Oscapella.

Underground

Posters & Pot

    Edmonton's underground activist organization Grassroots has been active since 1993, and has organized over a dozen rallies since then. The present members regularly undergo harassment and abuse from local Edmonton law enforcement.
    17 year-old Grassroots organizer Amy von Stackelberg and the police have locked horns on more than one occasion. She first came to their attention in the summer of 1995 when she was busted for postering a blow-up of her letter which had been printed in the Edmonton Journal, about the link between prohibition and violence.
    Amy then got busted again, on September 6, 1996, for possession for the purpose of trafficking. Notorious Gazebo Park anti-pot cops Kamp and Keller leaned on a couple of teenagers to give up their source. Amy was also a teen when this happened. She got caught with what she estimates was sixty grams - in one gram packages.

Raids and Police Violence

    Amy was arrested again on December 21, 1996, when ten cops, several in full body armor with assault rifles, raided her and her friend Ken Kirk's winter solstice party.
    The police were particularly vicious with this attack. They stuck a knee in Amy's back, they grabbed people by the throat, they kicked one person in his broken leg, they cuffed someone with the flu and made him sit near the open front door when it was -25¡C outside, until he was throwing up.
    All seven people were strip-searched. They charged six people with possession for the purpose and one person with obstruction of justice.
    The police stole approximately $1400 in cash, a pound of pot, a bong, a vaporizer, scales, address books, grow guides, Ken's anti-depressants, Amy's anti-inflammatories, and many pieces of ID. It took until Christmas day to raise everyone's bail
    This raid was the second one that day. Earlier on, the same swat team visited the Misty Mountain Cafe and arrested four people. Ken claimed that "the remand was a who's who of the drug trade" that weekend.
    Fellow Grassroots organizer Coreen Shewfelt believes that the charges have no chance of sticking, as even the warrant had the wrong name on it. She claims the cops just want "an advantage against their competition in the drug trade." She continued to explain that "the cops and the bikers are fighting for a monopoly in this city. Both the city police and the RCMP are so corrupt that they seldom even make a pretense of being just."
    Amy wants to fight her first charge on constitutional grounds as she firmly believes she wasn't doing anybody any harm. She's looking for expert witnesses to testify at her August 27, 1997 trial.
¥ By David Malmo-Levine

For More Info
The Cannabis Relegalization Society of Alberta can be reached through True North Hemp at: 10447 124th St, Edmonton, T5N 1R7; tel (403) 451-4367; email true.north@awinc.com.
Contact Amy von Stackleberg can at (403) 425-1204. Ken Kirk is organizing Edmonton's July 1 Cannabis Day Celebration this year. He can be reached at the same number.