cannabisnews.com: Welcome To The Summer of Love, Baby





Welcome To The Summer of Love, Baby
Posted by CN Staff on June 25, 2003 at 11:04:13 PT
By Rosie Dimanno
Source: Toronto Star 
Sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll.Sssssummer in the city. This city. Suddenly Sodom. Gomorrah-on-the-lake.Toronto the wicked, Toronto the wanton, Toronto the wasted.All those people avoiding us, SARS scaredy cats, they don't know what they're missing.
We got: The Rolling Stones, confirmed yesterday as headliners for a day-long discount-priced concert at the old Downsview airbase.We got: Police who won't bust pot-smokers, even when they fire up a spliff right in front of the cop shop. We got: Bob & Ted and Carol & Alice weddings, same-sex marriages of perfectly legal status, rendering T.O. the Gretna Green of queer connubial bliss, and not just for this weekend's Gay Pride parade festivities an event predicted to draw a cool (or hot and sweaty and nekkid) million revellers, and which was formally kicked off on Monday by no less a proper personage than police Chief Julian Fantino, out for a stroll on the stroll.We be hip. We be cool. We be headed for a summer of love, baby. The Age of Aquarius, passim but resurrected.The convergence of all these bewildering elements most especially the court ruling on same-sex marriage and pending legislation that quasi-legalizes pot have already been addressed, on the pages of this newspaper, verily, for their broad social implications, with tall-head columnists positing that Canada has become the cutting-edge model of a progressive nation, the tout le monde of cultural evolution.Evolution? Revolution! And the pointy-heads are missing the point.It's the fun, stupid. Or, in the anthem lyrics of a former generation, as sung by Ian Dury and the Blockheads: Sex and drugs and rock and roll/are very good indeed.Get our yer headbands, yer hippie beads, yer bell-bottoms and yer bongs. Toronto is turning back the clock atop the old town hall. Baby-boomers are herewith ordered to drop their golf clubs an establishment "sport" that was cultural anathema to youth in the '60s and '70s and dig out the rock concert Frisbee. It's retrograde back-to-the-future, led by Mick and Keith and the boys, admittedly lurching towards senior citizenship but still raging against the dying of the light, still "Jumping Jack Flash" nimble on stage, and still gloriously anti-authoritarian, if corporate suckbloods themselves."We're happy to tell you that we're coming to play on July 30 in a great concert for the people in the city of Toronto, to help bring back the energy to our favourite city," Jagger declared in a taped message played during a news conference yesterday morning to announce confirmation of the event. "We'll see you there ... bye!"The Stones, of course, long ago took a shine to this town, using it as a rehearsal HQ preparatory to their world tours, occasionally popping up to try out material in small-club venues, and generally hanging out.It was Toronto MP Dennis Mills who worked most feverishly to bring the SARS-blows concert to fruition, a musical bash that will now include AC-DC, The Guess Who (!), Justin Timberlake (!!), perhaps even Bono and U2, if Jagger can squeeze some arms, with Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi co-hosting. The feds and the province are kicking in some dough to cover costs, fees and security, holding the price of tickets which go on sale Friday down to $21.50 (or $16 in the U.S., because presumably the mega-gig will draw American tourists).This concert is the cheezie on the cake.It all brings to mind another era, other love-in summers, when youth ruled and rebellion was grand.But, goodness, what taboos are there left to break today? Whether such an era could be replicated today, in truth, is another matter entirely. But for commentary on Summer of Love, The Sequel, we went to The Source, the rebel, rocker and devil incarnate himself: Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins."Sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll? To be honest, I just can't remember a whole lot," the rock mentor admits. "But I'm told it was wonderful!"An icon, now in failing health but not sounding it, American-born Hawkins takes pride in the fact he survived the epoch of rock and drugs, on both sides of the border. "I've outlived them all, it seems, except for the Stones. But I do remember what it was like in Toronto back then, all the bars clustered together down there on Yonge St., so much great music. Man, those bars rocked. "It's all old now."And Hawkins isn't at all convinced that a younger generation brought up on smoking bylaws and the reactionary tendencies of the formerly, even tragically, now conventionally reformed and middle-aged would truly embrace such anti-establishment ethics, even in a retro summer of 2003. "Hell, I don't think anyone would want to put their bodies through all that!"Oh, the self-abuse of it. But those bodies were lovely once, innocently exposed, vessels of free love rather than sexual exploitation, Brother Love and Sister Moon. And Toronto, for those who were there, here, who can recall it first-hand, really did somersault into the decadence and abandon of the late '60s, early '70s, the 24-hour rock-a-billys at Varsity Stadium, and one memorable summer of a pedestrian mall along downtown Yonge.Or maybe not."Hell, we never knew there was a summer of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll," snorts the Star's Peter Goddard, a rock journalist who chronicled the binges and dazzling excesses of the Free Love Generation and their musical icons. "We just did them (and no, I never inhaled any, repeat ANY rock 'n' roll. I just put the vinyl to my lips for a bit)."If you were lucky, you were never completely aware what season you were in. (Living in a murky basement for months at a time also helped dull any perception of seasonal change.)"These vintage indulgences the sex, the drugs, the rock 'n' roll have lost of lot of their zip now that the government has made everything legal."What shouldn't be forgotten, though, is how remarkable Toronto was at the time. Nothing seemed tied down, particularly hidebound ideas. The Toronto of Sex, Drugs and Rock `n' Roll led directly to the city's remarkable blossoming in the '70s, when it was the place to live.''Urban planner and city guru Jane Jacobs certainly thought so. She moved here.A renaissance is just what Toronto needs at the moment. Achieving it, recapturing it, even on the back of a summer of S.D.R'n'R, is another matter, but not impossible."Woodstock returns?" muses Paul Rutherford, a professor in the history department at the University of Toronto, who teaches courses in pop culture in Canada, cultural theory and the history of images."I think replay would be a good word for it, for what's happening right now, because the '60s continue to have life. And the Stones represent the ethos and images of the '60s, even if they're almost old enough for a retirement home. They have remained part of that whole repertoire of those times."A nostalgia for the days lingers, especially among the baby-boomer creatures who lived it, and who now largely control the media monster that thrives on cultural recidivism. The '60s, and more so the '70s, were what Rutherford describes as a period of "transgression": going beyond the limits, defying authority, breaking rules of convention. Certainly the Stones symbolized that defiance. "There was a dirtiness to them," says Rutherford. "It wasn't just about music. It was about sex and changing values and ignoring restrictions. It was breaking taboos and giving the finger to the establishment."But, goodness, what taboos are there left to break today? Who to finger? Hell, everything's legal or at least tolerated.Nothing to let hang out anymore, except pot bellies.Anyway, this is getting a little too existentialist for my tastes. And I'm starting to sound like a tall-forehead myself.Have a great summer, Toronto. You rock.Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)Author: Rosie DiMannoPublished: June 25, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Toronto Star Contact: lettertoed thestar.com Website: http://www.thestar.com/ CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #22 posted by FoM on July 11, 2003 at 22:00:46 PT
Concert Update: Nearly 500,000 Tickets Sold
NEWS - Rolling Stones' Toronto Concert Nearing Half-Million Sales Mark 07/10/2003
 
 
 -- Ticket sales are nearing the half-million mark for the Rolling Stones-headlined July 30 concert in Toronto. Event spokesman J.P. Pampena has announced that more than 475,000 tickets have been sold for the show, 50,000 of which have been sold in the U.S.Pampena told the Canadian Press agency that organizers will probably cap sales at 600,000, even though Downsview Park, a former military base, hosted more than 800,000 people for a visit by Pope John Paul II at the 2002 World Youth Day.The concert was organized as a civic booster for Toronto, which has seen a big loss of tourism business since an outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) earlier this year. Proceeds from the show will be distributed throughout the greater Toronto area via the Health Care And Hospitality Workers Relief Fund.Also on the bill are AC/DC, the Guess Who, Rush, Justin Timberlake, Sam Roberts, the Flaming Lips, the Isley Brothers, Kathleen Edwards, and Sass Jordan.Although the Farmer Jack supermarket chain of Michigan had been announced as an outlet for tickets to the show, the company announced Wednesday (July 9) that it would not be selling them. No reason was given for the decision.
 
 
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on June 26, 2003 at 13:42:56 PT
I Did It
I made a CD. I can't believe technology! I know I'm way behind the times but for me it is brand new and I want to share it! LOL!
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on June 26, 2003 at 09:57:20 PT
BigDawg 
I agree we shouldn't hide children from the real world. Hiding children from the real world won't make the real world disappear. That's what the prohibitionist must think.Reality is reality! This is it!
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Comment #19 posted by BigDawg on June 26, 2003 at 09:51:57 PT
FOM
I agree 100%. My view of child raising is the same. Don't hide them from the real world. It only makes them LESS able to deal with it. Educate... hope... and pray... that's the best we can do.
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Comment #18 posted by FoM on June 26, 2003 at 09:51:41 PT
afterburner
I agree with you. I think I just posted an article about Kensington but I couldn't find a web site. I know the news is slow but it will pick up in July. I'm having fun with music. I can burn a cd with this machine but I never even tried it and hopefully this weekend I will be able too. I've been afraid to try for fear of crashing my computer. Computers can be so tempermental. Just like me! LOL!Show the world that Cannabis isn't what the antis think it is. If I were up there with all of you I would be doing exactly what you all are doing. I just downloaded Power To The People and I say that to you in the great wise north!Buzz Cafe: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread16698.shtml
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Comment #17 posted by afterburner on June 26, 2003 at 09:34:35 PT:
Thanks, FoM.
I went to bed early last night to rest up while those of you who couldn't make the Puff Down got up to speed on the details. Now, I hope you see what I've been so excited about. And it's just starting! I just finished writing about the events of the last week in my journal. I was pleased to read that a cannabis cafe has already opened in Toronto's Kensington Market, which by the way is a great place to visit even before legalization. We aren't fighting this campaign just for the right to get high, but to show the world that the cannabis prohibition is a pack of lies and to help the medical cannabis patients of the world get Safe Access Now. Thanks to everyone for the intellectual background. The time for confrontational politics is back! It's time to take it to the streets. If you can't legally toke, you can still vote, or run for office even sheriff or parks commissioner. Overgrow the government. ego transcendence follows ego destruction, click-click-click the dominos of worldwide prohibition are falling.
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on June 25, 2003 at 21:15:36 PT
mayan
You're welcome!
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on June 25, 2003 at 21:14:13 PT
Sam
I don't like when we are lumped in with the political views of the current administration either. I hope that the Canadians know that what our government believes isn't what we believe.
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on June 25, 2003 at 21:09:55 PT
afterburner
I watched the video of the Smoke In. I saw you! You made TV! Cool! You're hats a big giveaway! LOL!
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Comment #13 posted by mayan on June 25, 2003 at 17:59:52 PT
Counter Protest
I'm with you, firedog! Everyone who is able should be at the Canadian Embassy in Washington D.C. on Friday, July 27th. Just make sure you have your cannabis-leaf t-shirts & flags. It would be awesome if the counter-protesters greatly outnumbered the antis! Be there to support Canada - "The new land of the free"! Thanks for the info, FoM!"The demonstration will take place from 8:30 - 10:30 a.m., Friday, June 27, in front of the Canadian embassy on the north sidewalk of Pennsylvania Avenue between 5th and 6th streets."
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Comment #12 posted by firedog on June 25, 2003 at 16:25:01 PT
So, who's organizing the anti-protest?
I'm on the opposite side of the country, but it would be great if more people came out in support of Canada's enlightenment, freedom and autonomy!
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on June 25, 2003 at 15:01:21 PT
BigDawg
What are they wanting to save the children from? There is an old expression that I think is true. It goes give children enough rope to hang themselves and pray they don't.We can't protect children from experiencing life the way they want to. Don't we want children to become good problem solvers? Protecting children from too much doesn't equip them properly for when they go out on their own I believe.
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Comment #10 posted by BigDawg on June 25, 2003 at 14:31:55 PT
It gets really tiresome...
...listening to the same old "Save the Children" crap. All research I've seen has always shown that kids can get pot easier than booze.Regulate it and get over it.
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on June 25, 2003 at 14:01:28 PT
Press Release from U.S. Newswire
Drug Free Schools Coalition and Parents' Groups to Protest Canadian Drug Policies at Canadian Embassy in WashingtonJune 25, 2003On June 27, the Drug Free Schools Coalition and other national organizations will demonstrate in front of the Canadian embassy in Washington, D.C. to urge our Canadian friends to not liberalize their marijuana laws.Why is the Coalition concerned? The Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs made the following recommendation to amend the Canadian Controlled Drugs and Substances Act:To permit persons over the age of 16 to procure cannabis and its derivatives at duly licensed distribution centres."Drug busts along the U.S.- Canadian border are rising faster than busts along the Mexican border. Today 95 percent of the marijuana grown in British Columbia is smuggled to the U.S. If Canada relaxes its marijuana laws, more will be grown there and will be available to Canadian children and more will come to the U.S., and more will be available to our children," notes David G. Evans, Esq., Executive Director of the Coalition.The demonstration will take place from 8:30 - 10:30 a.m., Friday, June 27, in front of the Canadian embassy on the north sidewalk of Pennsylvania Avenue between 5th and 6th streets.The Drug Free Schools Coalition is an organization of school administrators, teachers, counselors, parents, and students dedicated to helping schools become drug free.The organizations supporting the demonstration are: National Families in Action; National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence; Families Against Drugs; National Institute of Citizen Anti-drug Policy; Concerned Citizens for Drug Prevention; Main South Alliance for Public Safety; Chemical People of Erie County Pennsylvania; Teen Vision Coalitions; Legal Foundation Against Illicit Drugs; Drug-free Kids America's Challenge; National Alliance for Health and Safety; Jenkins Group Halifax Nova Scotia; Mother of Divine Grace Drug Awareness Group; Drug Watch Minnesota; Arizonans for Drug Free Youth and Communities; Educating Voices; Momsquad - Moms for Drug/Violence Education; Courage to Speak Foundation; Australian Parents for Drug Free Youth.References: Cannabis: Our Position for a Canadian Public Policy, Report of the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs, Summary, Chairman: Pierre Claude Nolin, September 2002 ; Mike Lewis, "Legalized Pot Seems Likely Up North, Marijuana Cloud Hangs Over U.S.- Canada Relations", The Seattle Post Intelligencer, January 3, 2003; Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, "Marijuana Use by Canadian Teens Among Highest in the World", -- http://www.ccsa.ca/docs/cannabis/teens.htmCopyright: 2003 U.S. Newswire http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=114-06252003
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on June 25, 2003 at 13:29:06 PT
Just My Opinion
During the slow summer days for news I think about where we are and where we might be going. Canada is trying to bring change. Freedom can only be real if people can make personal choices without fear of repercussions. We base laws on the extreme but most people aren't extreme. We make laws to protect the children but don't seem to care about adults and their rights. Police have become brutal so being called a Peace Officer isn't a title that is even used anymore. When we went to see Neil Young I loved Greendale but I never felt relaxed. I don't understand why we have so many laws to control what people want to do. I don't know where we are going but we will see as time goes by. 
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Comment #7 posted by afterburner on June 25, 2003 at 13:25:07 PT:
It's 4:20. The Videos Are Here!
Newsclips of the Prince of Pot's Puff Down at Toronto Police HQ http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2031.html
Newshawks with Pot-TV http://www.pot-tv.net/ram/pottvshowse2031.ram
Running Time: 3 min 
Date Entered: 25 Jun 2003 
Viewer Rating: 0.00 (0 votes) 
 
Number of Views: 53 
 
Tim Meehan of the Ontario Consumers for Safe Access to Recreational Cannabis (OCSARC) sent in these clips of Marc at the first of the Prince of Pot's cross-counrty Smoke-Outs. Plus footage of Marc at the intelectual gathering known as IDEA City. 
Pot-TVThe Prince of Pot at the Ontario Police Headquarters, June 19th, 4:20pm http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2032.html
Miscellaneous with Pot-TV http://www.pot-tv.net/ram/pottvshowse2032.ram
Running Time: 28 min 
Date Entered: 25 Jun 2003 
Viewer Rating: 7.77 (3 votes) 
 
Number of Views: 53 
 
Jungle George of the Pot TV Series Destination Jamaica sent in this excellent footage of Marc Emery at the Tornoto Police Headquarters smoke-out where Marc firmly establishes that there are no laws against the personal possession of marijuana in Toronto!  
ego transcendence follows ego destruction, Safe Access Now in Ontario, Canada, join the campaign.
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Comment #6 posted by BigDawg on June 25, 2003 at 13:07:30 PT
It is truly a shame...
...when people leave the land of the free to get a short vacation......for the purpose of enjoying a little freedom.
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Comment #5 posted by Sam Adams on June 25, 2003 at 13:02:31 PT
FOM
One of these articles mentioned Alberta refusing the gay marriage law, and then stated, "Alberta's recognized as the province with political attitudes closest to the US". That hurt.  In Canada, you have to go to the sticks & find a bunch of isolated, ignorant ranchers to find anyone that agrees with our attitudes.My state voted against Bush 2 to 1! Help! I don't want to lumped in with the other right wingers.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on June 25, 2003 at 12:56:40 PT
Sam
I agree. The contrast between the two countries really magnifies how oppressed we are in the states.
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Comment #3 posted by afterburner on June 25, 2003 at 12:50:49 PT:
Jackboots or Legal Pot, Which Do You Choose?
Tulia, Detroit, Jacksonville, is police violence the American Way?Pot TV News for June 24th, 2003 http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2029.html
Pot TV News with Pot-TV http://www.pot-tv.net/ram/pottvshowse2029.ram
 
Running Time: 22 min 
Date Entered: 24 Jun 2003 
Viewer Rating: 7.86 (4 votes) 
 
Number of Views: 215 
 
-Tulia 12 Free On Bond
-17 Michigan Police Officers Accused of Reign Of Terror
-Jacksonville Florida Hempfest Marred By Police violence Prince of Pot's Summer of Legalization 2003 Canada Tour http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2030.html
The Prince of Pot Could Be Coming To Your Town! http://www.pot-tv.net/ram/pottvshowse2030.ram Running Time: 10 min 
Date Entered: 24 Jun 2003 
Viewer Rating: 8.32 (4 votes) 
 
Number of Views: 86 I want to hold SMOKE-OUT's in front of Police Station Headquarters across Canada with YOU and fellow supporters. We need to draw crowds who are willing to be seen possessing marijuana and smoking it! We need all Canadians to know Marijuana is completely legal in Ontario and can be legal in your province if we assert ourselves! This is also our opening salvo in asserting to Parliament that LEGALIZATION is what we want, what Canada needs! I will be speaking at each Police Heaquarters and smoking marijuana. Will you come and join the Canadian Cannabis revolution? I am looking for local contacts to arrange a demonstration in the following communities in Canada. Dates would be between July 7 and September 30.The first stop will be between July 7 - 14 - EXACT DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED - in*** DAUPHIN, MANITOBA *** in support of SWEET HEMPTATIONS, the hemp store there which DAUPHIN (RCMP)POLICE raided on June 16Other centres I want to DEMONSTRATE in include:St. John's, Newfoundland
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Moncton, New Brunswick
Sumerside or Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (they have that crazy cop in Summerside who is some mad prohibitionist so I lean toward Summerside)
Ottawa (after Parliament reconvenes)
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Calgary, Alberta
Prince George, British Columbia
Whitehorse, YukonWho's with me? 
Other Upcoming Canadian Events:
HempFest Sault Ste Marie http://www.planetarypride.com/hempfest.html [ AUGUST 22,23,24 - Tickets $25.00 Advance or pay $30.00 at the Gate - Must be 19 Yrs of Age or Accompanied by a Parent OR Guardian ]
Rolling Stones confirm Toronto concert http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030624.wston0624_3/BNStory/National/ [ Tickets for the concert go on sale Friday at a cost of $21.50 (Canadian) and $16 (U.S.)."We're happy to tell you that we're coming to play on July 30 in a great concert for the people in the city of Toronto, to help bring back the energy to our favourite city," [said] Mick Jagger [in a taped message]. Mr. Manley said organizers hope to attract busloads of Americans to the concert: "Let this be the biggest invasion of Canada from the United States since the War of 1812. Bring them on!" ]Get a breath of freedom, escape the fear if just for a few days. ego transcendence follows ego destruction, hope to see you all there! 
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Comment #2 posted by Sam Adams on June 25, 2003 at 12:38:00 PT
Meanwhile, a few miles south......
it's the summer of fascism!  Fear, hatred, and oppression for all! To celebrate, let's all hide out, alone, in our suburban homes and SUVs. We can clutch our remote with white knuckles as more "enemy combatant" perpetrators are captured on the other side of the Earth.Here at home, of course, armed thugs are arresting 15,000 marijuana combatants every week, but we won't think about that - too scary!
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Comment #1 posted by Kegan on June 25, 2003 at 11:58:15 PT
Boobs
Also, as long as you are not doing anything commercial (as in handing out flyers or selling touristy stuff), or soliciting for sex, or doing anything "sexually suggestive or explicit".........WOMEN GO TOPLESS!!!!!It has been legal for YEARS! Women, if they wish, can just walk around topless.That's right, spread the word! Stones! Pot! Same sex marriages! Bare BOOBS!!!!!Bring the kids!
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