T
The420Guy
Guest
Canadian Man Pleads with new Justice Minister, "Please don't send my wife
back to the US!"
To the Honorable Martin Cauchon,
Now that you have had time to settle into your new position as Minister of
Justice and considering the current spate of media attention, and the usual
misrepresentation that it entails, we feel that now is a prudent time to
contact you and explain our situation.
In 1997, my wife, Renee Boje, was hired by by 9 time cancer survivor Todd
McCormick to illustrate a book being written on the production of medicinal
grade cannabis. (Having spent some years in Amsterdam legally growing and
researching cannabis, Todd is a self-trained of an expert in this field).
The project was being sponsored by best-selling author Peter McWilliams,
himself a sufferer of both cancer and AIDS, who used marijuana to control
the nausea caused by the many medications he was required to take.
As part of the research for the book, Todd was producing a variety of
genetic strains, based upon the hypothesis that different arrangements of
the cannabanoids and other active ingredients of cannabis work specifically
on different ailments, (i.e. one strain for nausea, another for pain,
etc.), research that has since been taken up by a number of proffesional
organizations. After the voters passed Proposition 215 in California, a law
which legalized medical marijuana in that state, many people felt that the
growing of medicinal marijuana was totally legal and no specific guidelines
were included in the legislation that specified the amount of plants
allowed to be grown.
Unfortunately, the US DEA, a federal agency, failed to acknowledge the
voter's choice in the state of California, and Mr. McCormick's research and
production facility was raided by Federal authorities. Renee, who was
present at McCormick's home and research facility when the Federal Raid
took place, was strip searched, often in front of male officers, 15 times.
As a result of the charges being leveled on a Federal level, instead of a
State level, neither Mr. McWilliams, nor Mr. McCormick were permitted to
defend themselves based upon the State permitted medicinal use of
marijuana. Todd McCormick was sentenced to a 5 year mandatory sentence,
which has caused both his health and spirit to suffer irrevocably. Peter
McWilliams was released on bail based upon his mother putting her house on
the line to do so. Part of the bail requirement was that Mr. McWilliams not
be permitted to use marijuana, which he was taking in order to relieve the
constant nausea caused by the AIDS medication he was forced to take in
order to stay alive. Shortly after this, Peter Mcwilliams, died, choking
to death on his own vomit, the direct result of being denied the number 1
anti nausea medication, marijuana.
In their vindictive assault against McCormick and McWilliams, the DEA
attempted to bribe some of those involved in the case against testifying
against them by holding the threat of extreme jail sentences over their
heads. When it became apparent that Renee was going to be threatened in
this manner, (in her case a mandatory minimum of a 10 year to life
sentence is what they were seeking). Rather than testify against these sick
and dying individuals, on the advice of her Los Angeles Council, Renee
decided to flee the country. In the United States murderers and rapists are
let out of prison in 3 to 5 years, but the Federal authorities want to lock
Renee up for a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life for allegedly watering
some plants!
Renee arrived in Canada in May 1998 and began the application for refugee
status in February 1999. Shortly after this period, Renee and I met,
although we were familiar with each other prior to this, as before meeting,
Renee had read my first book, Green Gold the tree of Life: Marijuana in
Magic and Religion. Through a close relationship brought about by our
involvement in the marijuana reform movement, the friendship Renee and I
shared grew into love, and as often happens when two people fall in love,
sometime later, despite precautions, Renee found herself pregnant.
Considering Renee's situation this left us with the decision on how to deal
with the possibility of a child that we both deeply wanted.
Having been involved in the cannabis reform movement for over 12 years, and
knowing the issue inside and out (I started Patriotic Canadians for hemp in
1990, the first commercial hemp seed food company, Mama Indica's in 1991,
I've written two books on the subject of the history of cannabis and
numerous articles, and I manage the popular internet site pot-tv.net, media
council for the BC Marijuana Party, amongst other things), I felt Renee,
rather than doing something wrong, had acted out of compassion and honor.
Indeed, at one point she even offered to turn herself into US Federal
authorities if they agreed to drop the charges against Peter McWilliams and
let him resume the use of the medicinal cannabis that was keeping him alive.
As it is, since applying for refugee status in 1999, Renee has been
required to check in with Canadian Parole Authorities weekly, a penalty far
exceeding that of what she would likely have been charged with had her
suggested crime took place in BC, if charges would be laid here at all
based upon the flimsy evidence against her.
Renee and I were and are deeply in love. With both the pregnancy and the
prospect of criminal persecution, we were faced with the most terrible
dilemma of our lives. I told Renee that too many people have suffered over
what happened already. Peter Mcwilliams was dead, and Todd has suffered for
years in prison, denied the medication that eases his pain and placed in
solitary confinement several times. We know at the deepest level of our
beings that Renee is not a criminal, that her involvement with Todd and
Peter was one based upon the necessity of compassion. Thus, we made the
decision that we would take back our lives, that we would celebrate our
love and create the family that is the natural right of all people, just as
the right to use a natural plant is the right of all people.
On December 1st, 2001, Renee and I were married in a celebration attended
by over 300 prominent cannabis activists both from the US and Canada, all
who made a commitment to see us stay together. On the full moon of February
28th, 2002, we received our son Shiva Sun Bennett in a beautiful home
birth and in that moment I decided more than ever that our family is the
most important thing in my life and I am irrevocably bound to keeping that
family together. If, God forbid, Renee were ever sent back to the United
States, although I have no criminal record, because of my involvement in
the cannabis reform movement and based upon the example of Ross
Regabliatti, I would not be permitted into the US. Due to Renee's criminal
record there, she would not be allowed to visit her Canadian son and
husband, cruelly and unjustly separating mother and child as well as
husband and wife. I have seen lives ruined, the sick and dying persecuted
and worse through the prohibition laws focused on marijuana, every man has
their line in the sand, my line is a circle surrounding my wife and child,
all who would violate it, do so, as the old saying goes, over my dead body.
The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 16.3 declares that
"The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is
entitled to protection by society and the state." I invoke this right, and
I beseech you as both a fellow Canadian and a compassionate human being to
defend that right.
As talk of legalization of cannabis spreads through the Common Wealth and
throughout European countries, America continues to spend billions on
funding a war against it's own people. With 5% of the world's population
and 25% of the world's prisoners, the one time Land of the Free has become
the leaders of the prison State, jailing a far higher percentage of their
population than any other country on earth, forcibly drug testing and
incarcerating the very people whose freedoms they were elected to
represent. Over half of those in jail are in on drug charges, 1 in 5 of
those people in jail are there on cannabis related charges, often for
simple possession. In a word, this is Wrong. It is time for Canada to once
again act as the conscience of our neighbors to the south, as we did during
the final days of slavery, providing a sanctuary at the end of the
underground railroad, as we did in the final days of the Vietnam war,
providing a haven for it's conscientious objectors. Once again it is time
to tell America, both firmly and with compassion, "what you are doing is
wrong", to do so and to act thus, is a Canadian tradition and an obligation
to the world at large.
Please, as a loving husband and a new father, I beg of you to do the right
thing, despite seemingly overwhelming pressure from America, and act from a
place of compassion, and not as a politician reacting to threats of trade
sanctions, and allow my wife and the mother of my child the refuge in
Canada she so rightly deserves.
Respectfully,
Chris Bennett,
freeshiva@hotmail.com,
(604)886-6662,
Box 485, Gibsons,
B.C., VON 1VO
back to the US!"
To the Honorable Martin Cauchon,
Now that you have had time to settle into your new position as Minister of
Justice and considering the current spate of media attention, and the usual
misrepresentation that it entails, we feel that now is a prudent time to
contact you and explain our situation.
In 1997, my wife, Renee Boje, was hired by by 9 time cancer survivor Todd
McCormick to illustrate a book being written on the production of medicinal
grade cannabis. (Having spent some years in Amsterdam legally growing and
researching cannabis, Todd is a self-trained of an expert in this field).
The project was being sponsored by best-selling author Peter McWilliams,
himself a sufferer of both cancer and AIDS, who used marijuana to control
the nausea caused by the many medications he was required to take.
As part of the research for the book, Todd was producing a variety of
genetic strains, based upon the hypothesis that different arrangements of
the cannabanoids and other active ingredients of cannabis work specifically
on different ailments, (i.e. one strain for nausea, another for pain,
etc.), research that has since been taken up by a number of proffesional
organizations. After the voters passed Proposition 215 in California, a law
which legalized medical marijuana in that state, many people felt that the
growing of medicinal marijuana was totally legal and no specific guidelines
were included in the legislation that specified the amount of plants
allowed to be grown.
Unfortunately, the US DEA, a federal agency, failed to acknowledge the
voter's choice in the state of California, and Mr. McCormick's research and
production facility was raided by Federal authorities. Renee, who was
present at McCormick's home and research facility when the Federal Raid
took place, was strip searched, often in front of male officers, 15 times.
As a result of the charges being leveled on a Federal level, instead of a
State level, neither Mr. McWilliams, nor Mr. McCormick were permitted to
defend themselves based upon the State permitted medicinal use of
marijuana. Todd McCormick was sentenced to a 5 year mandatory sentence,
which has caused both his health and spirit to suffer irrevocably. Peter
McWilliams was released on bail based upon his mother putting her house on
the line to do so. Part of the bail requirement was that Mr. McWilliams not
be permitted to use marijuana, which he was taking in order to relieve the
constant nausea caused by the AIDS medication he was forced to take in
order to stay alive. Shortly after this, Peter Mcwilliams, died, choking
to death on his own vomit, the direct result of being denied the number 1
anti nausea medication, marijuana.
In their vindictive assault against McCormick and McWilliams, the DEA
attempted to bribe some of those involved in the case against testifying
against them by holding the threat of extreme jail sentences over their
heads. When it became apparent that Renee was going to be threatened in
this manner, (in her case a mandatory minimum of a 10 year to life
sentence is what they were seeking). Rather than testify against these sick
and dying individuals, on the advice of her Los Angeles Council, Renee
decided to flee the country. In the United States murderers and rapists are
let out of prison in 3 to 5 years, but the Federal authorities want to lock
Renee up for a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life for allegedly watering
some plants!
Renee arrived in Canada in May 1998 and began the application for refugee
status in February 1999. Shortly after this period, Renee and I met,
although we were familiar with each other prior to this, as before meeting,
Renee had read my first book, Green Gold the tree of Life: Marijuana in
Magic and Religion. Through a close relationship brought about by our
involvement in the marijuana reform movement, the friendship Renee and I
shared grew into love, and as often happens when two people fall in love,
sometime later, despite precautions, Renee found herself pregnant.
Considering Renee's situation this left us with the decision on how to deal
with the possibility of a child that we both deeply wanted.
Having been involved in the cannabis reform movement for over 12 years, and
knowing the issue inside and out (I started Patriotic Canadians for hemp in
1990, the first commercial hemp seed food company, Mama Indica's in 1991,
I've written two books on the subject of the history of cannabis and
numerous articles, and I manage the popular internet site pot-tv.net, media
council for the BC Marijuana Party, amongst other things), I felt Renee,
rather than doing something wrong, had acted out of compassion and honor.
Indeed, at one point she even offered to turn herself into US Federal
authorities if they agreed to drop the charges against Peter McWilliams and
let him resume the use of the medicinal cannabis that was keeping him alive.
As it is, since applying for refugee status in 1999, Renee has been
required to check in with Canadian Parole Authorities weekly, a penalty far
exceeding that of what she would likely have been charged with had her
suggested crime took place in BC, if charges would be laid here at all
based upon the flimsy evidence against her.
Renee and I were and are deeply in love. With both the pregnancy and the
prospect of criminal persecution, we were faced with the most terrible
dilemma of our lives. I told Renee that too many people have suffered over
what happened already. Peter Mcwilliams was dead, and Todd has suffered for
years in prison, denied the medication that eases his pain and placed in
solitary confinement several times. We know at the deepest level of our
beings that Renee is not a criminal, that her involvement with Todd and
Peter was one based upon the necessity of compassion. Thus, we made the
decision that we would take back our lives, that we would celebrate our
love and create the family that is the natural right of all people, just as
the right to use a natural plant is the right of all people.
On December 1st, 2001, Renee and I were married in a celebration attended
by over 300 prominent cannabis activists both from the US and Canada, all
who made a commitment to see us stay together. On the full moon of February
28th, 2002, we received our son Shiva Sun Bennett in a beautiful home
birth and in that moment I decided more than ever that our family is the
most important thing in my life and I am irrevocably bound to keeping that
family together. If, God forbid, Renee were ever sent back to the United
States, although I have no criminal record, because of my involvement in
the cannabis reform movement and based upon the example of Ross
Regabliatti, I would not be permitted into the US. Due to Renee's criminal
record there, she would not be allowed to visit her Canadian son and
husband, cruelly and unjustly separating mother and child as well as
husband and wife. I have seen lives ruined, the sick and dying persecuted
and worse through the prohibition laws focused on marijuana, every man has
their line in the sand, my line is a circle surrounding my wife and child,
all who would violate it, do so, as the old saying goes, over my dead body.
The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 16.3 declares that
"The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is
entitled to protection by society and the state." I invoke this right, and
I beseech you as both a fellow Canadian and a compassionate human being to
defend that right.
As talk of legalization of cannabis spreads through the Common Wealth and
throughout European countries, America continues to spend billions on
funding a war against it's own people. With 5% of the world's population
and 25% of the world's prisoners, the one time Land of the Free has become
the leaders of the prison State, jailing a far higher percentage of their
population than any other country on earth, forcibly drug testing and
incarcerating the very people whose freedoms they were elected to
represent. Over half of those in jail are in on drug charges, 1 in 5 of
those people in jail are there on cannabis related charges, often for
simple possession. In a word, this is Wrong. It is time for Canada to once
again act as the conscience of our neighbors to the south, as we did during
the final days of slavery, providing a sanctuary at the end of the
underground railroad, as we did in the final days of the Vietnam war,
providing a haven for it's conscientious objectors. Once again it is time
to tell America, both firmly and with compassion, "what you are doing is
wrong", to do so and to act thus, is a Canadian tradition and an obligation
to the world at large.
Please, as a loving husband and a new father, I beg of you to do the right
thing, despite seemingly overwhelming pressure from America, and act from a
place of compassion, and not as a politician reacting to threats of trade
sanctions, and allow my wife and the mother of my child the refuge in
Canada she so rightly deserves.
Respectfully,
Chris Bennett,
freeshiva@hotmail.com,
(604)886-6662,
Box 485, Gibsons,
B.C., VON 1VO