Pot Activists To Picket School Drug Talk

Jim Finnel

Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Denouncing as a smokescreen a city police drug awareness session, cannabis community activists plan to picket a southeast high school tomorrow in response.

Members of the pro-marijuana legalization group Calgary 420 said for the first time they'll greet with placards attendees -- expected to be both adults and students -- at Forest Lawn high school tomorrow night to hear police discuss the dangers of drugs.

Group founder Keith Fagin said he's fed up with fearmongering on marijuana and expects about a dozen activists to join him handing out brochures on public property next to the school at 1304 44 St. S.E.

"We'll be handing out scientific information trying to sway them from continuing their reefer madness insanity," said Fagin, who's consumed marijuana for 35 years and uses it to alleviate symptoms of severe muscle deterioration. Fagin acknowledged picketing a school may raise public -- particularly parental -- hackles and that he's met with verbal resistance at previous school events.

But he said it's not his intent to advocate drug use, rather to point out the futility of what he calls "the lies" told to young people about marijuana and the dangers of tougher drugs laws being proposed by Ottawa.

"Lying to them's not going to work," he said, adding numerous government studies have called for more liberalized marijuana laws. "It's not my biased opinion -- why isn't the government listening to their own studies?"

Fagin said his attempts to be part of the awareness session panel have been rebuffed but that he plans to attend the event and pose questions.

"I'm not there to be disruptive, I just want to ask them questions and hopefully I'll be able to talk but it doesn't surprise me they don't want to debate," he said.

Police have warned about the mental and physical risks of what they call the much greater potency of contemporary marijuana.

A spokesman for the public school board wouldn't comment, saying the event isn't being organized by the district.


News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2009 The Calgary Sun
Contact: callet@calgarysun.com
Website: Calgary Sun
Author: Bill Kaufmann
 
Hey! I went to that high school.
Forest Lawn in Calgary was at one time just a regular middle class area that has slowly slid into a low rent area with the usual array of liquor stores, pawn shops and poor immigrants.
A big question to the cops at the presentation should be, "considering your ongoing prosecution and persecution of pot users, just when do you realistically think that your measures will start working and everybody will just stop using using pot"?
 
I really need to get uptodate with Calgary's pot community. I never even knew that "Calgary 420" existed! Damn, i wish i could get off and help them protest, but sadly i have school. Thanks for this piece of news!
 
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