cannabisnews.com: Pot Praised by Emery 





Pot Praised by Emery 
Posted by CN Staff on March 18, 2004 at 17:02:45 PT
By Justin Wood, Silhouette Staff 
Source: Silhouette
Weed was in the air this week as leader of the British Columbia Marijuana party, Marc Emery, visited McMaster and sang the praises of smoking pot. Emery, marijuana advocate and supporter of the New Democratic Party, spoke to interested students and members of the public about the benefits of smoking marijuana, and the difficulties pot smokers have with the authorities. Emery presented to a number of self-declared "stoned" audience members, and began the afternoon with free pizza and pop and the reading of a rhyming poem praising marijuana and promoting its legalization.
"There is nothing bad about pot," declared Emery. "Pot is perfect. Everything they've told you about pot is a lie." The guest lecturer, originally from London, Ontario, has been "toking up" for about 23 years now. He proudly spoke of his many arrests, convictions, and strip-searches, which he said he bears like medals of valour. Sparing no detail, Emery recounted the story of the "sensually enhanced" experience he had losing his virginity while "high." In his discussion, Emery compared marijuana to the more commonly consumed--and legal--alcohol. He contended that thousands of pot smokers are sent to jail for weed every year while weed doesn't kill anyone. Meanwhile, alcohol is attributed to over 10,000 deaths every year, all accidental, criminal, and illness-related. Yet, nobody goes to jail for possessing or consuming alcohol, which, Emery argues, is a more harmful substance than marijuana. "If you smoke marijuana, you will not get lung cancer," said Emery. "Nobody has ever died from respiratory problems due to the smoking of weed. Meanwhile, cigarettes are extremely harmful to the respiratory system, they are proven to cause cancer, and proven to be very addictive while, unlike pot, they don't do anything good for you." Emery further argued that the chemicals we release into the air from factories and vehicles are much more dangerous and harmful to people than weed. He also noted that since weed has never been known to kill anyone, peanuts, which kill many people each year, are even more dangerous. "In fact, while cigarettes leave poisonous tar inside the lungs and constrict the lungs, weed particles leave the lungs when the smoke is exhaled, leaving only the THC which naturally opens up your lungs and even attacks tumors. There are lists of legal things that kill people every day from peanuts and junk food to alcohol and cigarettes, and yet it is for weed, which hasn't ever killed anyone, that thousands of us go to jail every year." Emery urged audience members to become marijuana activists saying that it is a cultural practice that enhances creativity, sensitivity, inner peace, and outward tolerance and patience. He said that his work is not to advocate some harmful drug-induced, carefree, do-nothing lifestyle; rather, it is to promote a healthier lifestyle both physically and mentally. "I'm not out to get wasted," said Emery, "I have lots of weed parties but we never serve alcohol or provide any narcotics. It's about being naturally healthy and happy... pot is even great for people with multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease." Emery renounces the term, "medicinal marijuana." According to him, everybody who uses pot uses it for therapeutically and recreationally, whether they admit it or not. He went on to say that the allowance of medicinal marijuana is likely just a kind of trial being run by the government to gauge the public reaction to various degrees or legalized marijuana. "Your teachers, parents, police, and politicians; everybody in authority will lie to you about pot. The fact is that pot doesn't make you stupid or incapable of learning or productivity; it just adds another dimension to the senses. Pot makes you more receptive, more creative, and more attentive to the process at hand rather than the end result. That means that if you do something when you're high, you'll pay more attention to the small details of what you're doing, and so, you'll do it better." "Write letters to the government," urged Emery. "Support pro-legalization political groups, the biggest of which for us in Canada being the NDP. Create student groups designed to raise awareness of our cause. But most of all, as often as you can, smoke with large groups of people as openly as you like. Marijuana isn't a dirty secret that we have to hide; it is our right as free people, so enjoy it freely." Monday's three-hour-long seminar in TSH 120 ended with a large group of people lighting up in the arts quad, smoking weed and even offering some to passers-by. Marc Emery, himself, proudly joined, toking up alongside his fellow supporters. Source: Silhouette, The (CN ON Edu)Author: Justin Wood, Silhouette Staff Published: Volume 74, Issue 25 - March 18, 2004 Copyright: 2004 The Silhouette, McMaster Students UnionContact: thesil msu.mcmaster.caWebsite: http://www.msu.mcmaster.ca/sil/Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis Culture Magazinehttp://www.cannabisculture.com/N.B. Prosecution Goes To Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18237.shtmlPolice Arrest Marijuana Activisthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16927.shtmlPot Activist Arrested at Rally http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16921.shtml
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on March 23, 2004 at 16:57:53 PT
afterburner
I agree not to do much talking about this for Marc's sake. Sometimes I don't react to situations because I believe I shouldn't. 
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Comment #14 posted by afterburner on March 23, 2004 at 16:38:37 PT:
From CC Forum
"The Prince of Pot is currently being held in a Saskatoon jail cell - SUPPORT MARC! Attend his court hearing TOMORROW Wed March 24 at 10 am. at the Saskatoon Provincial Courthouse! Also: Marc's speaking tour *continues*, Hear Grant Krieger speak Wed. March 23 at the Univ. of Alberta (alumni room)" --guardian99 Also I would like to second the comment that specifics regarding Marc's behavior in Saskatoon not be posted pending the court appearance. Law enforcement has been known to read the CC Forum and use comments as evidence in court. Be-aware.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on March 23, 2004 at 15:48:59 PT
afterburner
I don't know. It doesn't make sense to me either.
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Comment #12 posted by afterburner on March 23, 2004 at 15:31:10 PT:
I Wonder...
if the so-called trafficking charge involved passing a joint to another protester. Or what? The legal details are so far missing from the available reports.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on March 23, 2004 at 15:07:51 PT
Thanks afterburner
He's going to be charged with trafficking instead of possession it seems. 
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Comment #10 posted by afterburner on March 23, 2004 at 15:03:41 PT:
Some More Details
Marc Emery arrested http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/3387.html
by Pete Brady (23 Mar, 2004) Prince of Pot jailed in Saskatoon 
 
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on March 23, 2004 at 14:30:40 PT
News About Marc Emery
I read that he was denied bail and thought some of you might want to know. 
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on March 23, 2004 at 12:34:32 PT
Related News Article from The CBC
"Prince of Pot" Arrested in Saskatchewan March 23, 2004SASKATOON  - Marc Emery has been arrested and charged with trafficking and possession of marijuana.Emery, nicknamed the "Prince of Pot," is the founder and president of the British Columbia Marijuana Party.He spoke Monday night at the University of Saskatchewan. Saskatoon police say shortly before midnight, they were called to the Vimy Memorial near the Bessborough Hotel, where they found about 15 people smoking up.In court Tuesday morning, the Crown dropped Emery's possession charge. He is due back in court on Wednesday for a bail hearing.Justin McGowan of Saskatoon was also charged with possession. 
 
http://sask.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=pot040323
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Comment #7 posted by afterburner on March 19, 2004 at 07:26:51 PT:
Overgrow the Government; Oust the Prohibitionists
This article is a good summary of Marc's talk at McMaster. Many Ontario activists were there and many students. A similar message was presented to Mohawk College the previous Friday to a smaller group. And the After Party, well... you might have thought the Canadian government had already legalized cannabis.Grow-ops take all vice squad's time 
2004-03-18 01:00:00 [Toronto Star: Crime]
"York Region police's entire 20-officer vice squad spends all its time combating the burgeoning marijuana grow house problem, says Chief Armand La Barge." http://tinyurl.com/39xbnThe solution: listen to the Canadian Senate Report recommendations and legalize, regulate, and tax. Then the incentive for "grow-ops" or "marijuana labs [sic]" will fade away. Individuals will be free to grow in their own backyards or in indoor flowerpots and licensed commercial growers will grow on farms and in greenhouses.
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Comment #6 posted by kaptinemo on March 19, 2004 at 04:52:45 PT:
This is the link to Mr. Emery's presentation   UBC
You'll need RealPlayer to run it. http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2539.htmlMr. Emery also helps to put the racist origins of cannabis prohibition into starker clarity than most reformers. 
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Comment #5 posted by Virgil on March 19, 2004 at 02:41:48 PT
A paragraph on the media
From http://tinyurl.com/37gyjBernstein, the former Washington Post journalist who, along with fellow reporter Bob Woodward, unearthed the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon, said much of today's news has deteriorated into gossip, sensationalism and manufactured controversy.
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Comment #4 posted by breeze on March 19, 2004 at 01:26:58 PT
maybe off topic-
But this article mentions bush persuinng failed policies in Iraq. Sadly enough, he is persuing failed policies in the WOD, along with the aid and approval of our current congress. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040319/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush&cid=544&ncid=716
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Comment #3 posted by breeze on March 18, 2004 at 23:44:29 PT
This doctor is basically on our side
Maybe We should write to her and offer our support...http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040318/ap_on_sc/fired_bioethicist_1
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Comment #2 posted by Cannabis Enthusiast on March 18, 2004 at 22:02:51 PT
What if cannabis was so plentiful...
That you could walk into any gas station and buy a pot brownie for 50 cents. The reality is that pot is _not_ this plentiful in today's world. You have to know certain people to get pot, and even then you have to pay $50 - $60 for 1/8th of an ounce of it (Sinsemilla).If pot brownies were sold everywhere for 50 cents, we could have a true hippie revolution again. No coughing up your lungs just to get high, all you would have to do is share brownies with people.When Sinsemilla is priced like it is in Jamaica, or there is no War on Drugs, the entire planet can enjoy having their brains enhanced with cannabinoids including THC and Cannabidiol (CBD).
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Comment #1 posted by Virgil on March 18, 2004 at 18:32:01 PT
Innoculated for life
There are some people that got a real education in that presentation. There is something in people that makes them believe the government is honest in its policy and methods. These students were told different by someone that knows.I was reading the website of this university paper. They have an impressive standing in the area of medicine. It is located in Hamilton which is half-way between Toronto and Niagara Falls in Ontario. It is near half-way between London and Toronto also.I was reading some alternative medicine links and one discussed urine therapy. It is practiced around the world. This is not FDA approved and everyone with urine should be pee tested to see if they have unapproved urine that might potentially be used as an alternative medicine.I have wanted to mention what is called the Edmonton Protocol that was developed in Canada and has tremendous promise for the cure of type 1 diabetes. The fact that such a harsh disease might actually be cured by islet transplantion surgery should call for immediate and sincere research by NIH. The procedure is now 5 years old and who has mentioned it on television in this day of exploding diabetics. This is relevant by corruption of media and the NIH/FDA- http://www.diabetes.org.uk/islets/trans/edmonton.htm
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