cannabisnews.com: Police Crash Marijuana Cafe's Opening





Police Crash Marijuana Cafe's Opening
Posted by CN Staff on November 30, 2003 at 08:59:15 PT
By Eilis Quinn, The Canadian Press 
Source: Canadian Press 
Montreal -- Police arrested two people on Saturday as dozens of people celebrated the opening of a pot cafe by passing around joints and breathing in air thick with marijuana smoke. Several police officers from a station less than a block away squeezed into Chez Marijane and arrested two men who were holding joints, said Hugo St-Onge, president of the Bloc Pot party.
"To tell you the truth, I'm surprised," St-Onge said when reached on his cell phone at the police station where he was helping the two men, aged 26 and 51. "It's a waste of their time, a waste of money. But it's simple possession and it's illegal." One of the men arrested has multiple sclerosis, he added. The cafe does not sell pot but people can bring their own to smoke, said St-Onge, who called the day a success despite the arrests. "Only about two or three people left because of the police, the rest are still there." Before police arrived, customers and cafe volunteers sipped coffee, passed joints and revelled in having a place they could congregate to smoke dope. Serge Granger said not even the cold snowy weather could keep him away. " We need transparency when it comes to drugs," he said, cradling his 14-month-old daughter in his arms. "Drugs need to be out in the open if we are going to deal with the problem." Antoine Debast, 23, peered through the thick haze of smoke at the cafe's hustle and bustle and described the atmosphere as "more like a rave than a cafe." Police had the cafe under suveillence all afternoon. A police spokesman would not say why they decided to go in when they did or if they would return on Sunday. "I can't comment on that but the cafe will be visited in a regular fashion in order to enforce the law," Const. Michel Kriaa said. Police said two children, aged between two and five, were present when they entered. Quebec's child-protection agency was informed. Earlier, St-Onge was all smiles as he cut a red, black and green ribbon and declared the cafe officially open. "It's time to stop the persecution," St-Onge said on the cafe steps as trucks passed by honking support. "Here at Chez Marijane (people) can come to express themselves and share their culture in a friendly and secure environment." Organizers' plans to open a pot cafe at a nearby location last September drew howls of protest from the landlord and nearby businesses. The building housing Chez Marijane previously was home to a club that provided pot to the seriously ill. Nearby businesses said they weren't worried about the cafe taking its place. "Look at all the bars around here," said Yves Martel, owner of a nearby art gallery, as he waved his arm towards the street. "I'm more worried about the people who come out of them drunk, aggressive and vomiting all over the sidewalk. "I've got no problem with (Chez Marijane) being there." St-Onge said the cafe will be open to "members." Day-long memberships will cost about a $1, with year-long memberships costing as little as $5. Coffee, juice and snacks will be available for a donation, he said. "Above all this is a place to meet and exchange ideas," St-Onge said. "And if people want to smoke a joint while they're doing it, it's fine. We're not here to encourage it or discourage it." Similar cafes have been opening across Canada after rulings by courts in Ontario, P.E.I. and New Brunswick this year that ruled charges for simple possession of marijuana were unconstitutional. The Cannabis Cafe in Saint John, N.B., which opened in April, allows people to bring their own marijuana to smoke along with a cup of coffee. Police arrested five people at the cafe in May but charges are still pending. Meanwhile, pot smokers continue to frequent the store. No Quebec court has made a similar ruling so possession of even small amounts of pot is illegal. Montreal police said recently they would enforce the law. A proposed federal bill that would decriminalize marijuana for small-time users caught with less than 15 grams died when Parliament shut down this month. The bill is expected to be reintroduced later. Note: Two arrested at Montreal's Chez Marijane Source: Canadian Press Author: Eilis Quinn, The Canadian PressPublished: Sunday, November 30, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Canadian PressRelated Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Party of Canadahttp://www.marijuanaparty.org/Montreal Cafe To Allow Patrons To Smoke Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17881.shtmlCafe To Offer Over-The-Counter Sale of Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17385.shtmlCafe Lets Customers Smoke Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15862.shtml
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on December 02, 2003 at 08:41:03 PT
News Article from Snipped Source
Court of Appeal Upholds Researcher's Drug Sentence 
Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun Tuesday, December 02, 2003 
 
 
VANCOUVER - The B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld a one-year conditional sentence imposed on a medicinal marijuana researcher who was caught growing an estimated $2 million worth of pot.Lawyer John Conroy argued on behalf of his client, Paul Hornby, that the sentencing judge failed to treat Hornby differently than commercial marijuana growers.Hornby had a contract to sell marijuana at cost to the Compassion Club, which supplies medicinal marijuana to people who have a Health Canada exemption to grow and possess the drug. Hornby was president of Hedron Analytical Inc., which had a Health Canada licence to do analysis of marijuana plants to determine THC content. The company wasn't permitted to grow marijuana.Snipped:Complete Article: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/news/story.asp?id=D85ECE43-3AF3-4D36-98C0-D065CB63C365
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on December 02, 2003 at 07:20:29 PT
News Article from Snipped Source
Law, Order and Pot
  
National Post Tuesday, December 02, 2003  
Chez Marijane isn't for the smart set. The air quality is lousy, the conversation somewhat sluggish and the drink menu highly limited. But for Montreal's marijuana users, the new "pot café" is a haven -- one of the few venues where they can smoke away with like-minded souls in a public, social environment. It is an absurd anachronism that the law should make these people out to be criminals.That's not to say marijuana use is advisable. But the drug is less harmful than either tobacco or alcohol -- not to mention "hard" addictive drugs such as heroin or cocaine. This is why several Canadian courts have recently ruled Canada's pot laws unconstitutional, and why Ottawa has been compelled to allow sick Canadians access to medical marijuana. Unfortunately, full-blown reform may be a long way off: Incoming prime minister Paul Martin has expressed skepticism about a recent proposal to decriminalize possession of small amounts of the stuff.Snipped:Complete Article: http://www.nationalpost.com/commentary/story.html?id=EDAF39E9-978C-4244-AC0E-76642F08AF74
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on December 01, 2003 at 13:15:03 PT
firedog 
Thanks! Maybe I had ADD then. I still can jump around on things I need to do but I can handle more then one thing at a time. I sure don't take any amphetamines. That took the good diet pills away years ago but I drink coffee like it's going out of style. 
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Comment #12 posted by firedog on December 01, 2003 at 13:03:42 PT
ADD
Yes, most ADD medications are amphetamines or other stimulants. Adderall is basically a version of Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine).Another medication that can be useful for ADD is (you guessed it) cannabis, although it doesn't work for everyone with ADD. Then again, even Ritalin only has about a 60-70% success rate and no one knows exactly how or why it works.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on December 01, 2003 at 09:54:27 PT
TecHnoCult
I don't have any real knowledge about the drug you mentioned or actually what ADD is. When I was in school I didn't do well. I couldn't keep my mind still enough to concentrate. My mind wandered all the time. I never understood how my friends could focus and get good grades. School was something I never liked. I liked the school I went to but I still didn't like school. I took good amphetamine based diet pills in 10th grade and I became a straight A student. I could keep my mind on my studies much easier. I don't know if medicine for ADD is an amphetamine based drug or not but amphetamines helped me. 
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Comment #10 posted by TecHnoCult on December 01, 2003 at 09:29:37 PT
Aderol
I agree that often drugs may be substituted for good partenting, but it seems to me that the people here would support medicine when it is necessary. My daughter has severe ADD. This is not an excuse to drug my child, but a serious problem that has made school difficult for her. Aderol has helped her TREMENDOUSLY! The teachers at school have noticed a 200% improvement in her ability to pay attention and to stay on task. Do you really think we are all bad parents for giving our kids these drugs? If so, then I am bad for treating my Bipolar Disorder with cannabis.THC
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Comment #9 posted by jose melendez on December 01, 2003 at 02:52:38 PT
Want to win? Shoot video, not bullets.
"What are you going to do if I smoke?" demanded one man, holding a joint within arm's reach of a female traffic officer.  "Why don't you take this away from me? Arrest me." A police officer, sitting in his squad car, quietly fumed. "We'll do something, don't you worry," he said, refusing to give his name.  "But we'll act when we're ready.  Not when these drug users want to get on television." http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1849/a01.html?397"Balls," claimed the Queen, "If I had to, I could be king!" The King smiled. He had two.
got video?
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Comment #8 posted by jose melendez on November 30, 2003 at 16:12:37 PT
high times is at 420.com
^http://420.com/htsiteHigh Times stakes out its stoner space on the web at 420.com, a spinoff of our new GROW AMERICA newsstand title. Fully optimized for high-minded readers, 420.com compiles High Times' best information on cannabis cultivation, including the authoritative GROW Q+A DATABASE and MAX YIELD'S GARDEN JOURNAL, along with a gallery of luscious BUD SHOTS, and fun stuff like Chef Ra's RANDOM MUNCHIE GENERATOR. What started out as an underground phenomenon -- an officially unofficial "tea time" for smoking pot -- has emerged as a lifestyle unto itself. At 420.com -- it's about that time. 
scared yet?
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on November 30, 2003 at 14:38:46 PT
CorvallisEric
Good question. I have a question too? What is public morality and should we care if others are offended? Do we have an obligation to think of families and people who don't want to be exposed to anything that they aren't comfortable with publically? I think about that question often.
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Comment #6 posted by CorvallisEric on November 30, 2003 at 14:33:46 PT
FoM and Jose
I can understand perfectly well the concern about children in a smoke-filled area because of respiratory problems. If it's handled irresponsibly, it will affect how the public perceives us. Children (especially infants and young ones) should not be exposed to smoke of any kind, period.On the issue of drugging children, the one that really bothers me is the exposure to large amounts (relative to body weight) of caffeine, often semi-hidden, and without the informed consent of their parents. I'm a happy, mildly-addicted caffeine consumer, a decision I've weighed carefully as a responsible adult. I'm also happy that I grew up without it or any other drugs. I just didn't like any "adult" tastes - this was 1950's, before all-pervasive media manipulation, and I mostly didn't have TV.Now, the question for which I don't have the answer: do we achieve our goal of freedom with responsibility sooner by being "good citizens" or by being "in your face." The supporters of repression have told us lots of lies about this.
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Comment #5 posted by Virgil on November 30, 2003 at 12:22:12 PT
CP is doomed in Canada
How the Supreme Court can defend CP is beyond me. The government might ram some more prohibitionist legislation through only to see the courts clog up and see a sweeping change in elected officials including Prime Minister.CP is wrong and the Canadian people know it. CP has not accomplished shit except imprisoning people and giving them criminal records while making a common plant a gold-growing plant. It is doomed in Canada and it is doomed here.Fuck Bush and Congress too. They are way, way over the line on my freedom. They deserve to be convicted of overthrowing the government of the people.It is a litmus test issue on the minimal definition of freedom. It calls for a total re-examination of the constitutional powers of government that has walked all over the freedoms that the Constitution was meant to protect from an over-reaching government. The overstep of the government has to be pushed back entirely and the first thing that has to go in that push backwards is the goddamn stonewall of CP.
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Comment #4 posted by jose melendez on November 30, 2003 at 12:20:42 PT
eight teaspoons of sugar plus caffeine in sodas
"Are there areas for young children to go in the cafe and be out of the smoke filled rooms?"Excuse me, but why bother? We're already hopping these kids up on Adderol, Concerta, Strattera or whatever passes for responsible parenting these days . . .
prohibition is INDUSTRY, not POLICY!
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Comment #3 posted by mayan on November 30, 2003 at 11:17:24 PT
Congratulations, LEO's!
You have just succeeded in pissing a lot more people off. Never mind the murderers,rapists,burglars & thieves. Arresting and prosecuting people for using a plant is priority number one.More drug war failure...US admits failings as Afghan poppy output doubles:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1000068.htm Wake up, antis!!! 
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on November 30, 2003 at 11:05:27 PT
Question
This isn't a judgment just a question. Is there an age restriction? When I had to go with my parents when I was a child on a Saturday night to a restaurant-bar I was not allowed in a certain area. Are there areas for young children to go in the cafe and be out of the smoke filled rooms?
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Comment #1 posted by WolfgangWylde on November 30, 2003 at 10:59:15 PT
I'd say the Canadians are headed...
....for a Stonewall type incident. That'll it settle it once and for all.
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