The grassy field behind the SAC offices was the location for the first Marijuana Legalization Day of Action at U of T on Sunday afternoon.
Organized by SAC External Commissioner Sam Rahimi, the event was held to raise awareness about Canada’s laws surrounding the use of marijuana and the varied supporters among Canadian people for the legalization of marijuana.
About 100 people attended the afternoon’s events, a group made up of students, interested citizens and professionals, many of whom are involved in marijuana organizations and advocacy groups.
For Rahimi, his main reason in organizing the event was his concern over the difficult issues surrounding the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes by people in need, and his strong belief in the personal autonomy over one’s own body.
“It’s crazy that the government can tell you what you can and can’t put in your body,” he explained, and that “sick people can get addictive drugs from their drugstore like morphine, and you can’t really argue that marijuana causes bodily harm.”
Alison Myrden, an activist with the Medical Marijuana Mission, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and multiple-sclerosis sufferer, spoke at the event and talked with a member of SAC’s external commission, Saba Tariq, about medicinal marijuana issues.
Tariq, a political science student entering law school next year, came to the event “to get informed, especially about medicinal users because of all the drugs they have to take already and what side effects they have.”
As an individual who doesn’t use marijuana herself, Tariq said she could now teach others in the organizations she belongs to, and advocate for change in Canadian law.
Lawyer, professor and pre-eminent pot activist Allan Young also spoke at the event, calling for the laws to be changed to address what he calls Canada’s most popular national pastime (not lacrosse) which, he says, is “three million people strong.”
Fighting against the Canadian government and arguing the value of intoxication and altered consciousness, Young began his campaign 15 years ago, using his training as a litigator to challenge what he calls “consensual crimes.”
He stressed the fact that young people between the ages of 18-25 have the highest risk of prosecution for marijuana possession. This generational gap, Young suggests, is due to the mystification, and vilification of pot use among professionals and adults like himself.
“There is something about the slow maturity into parenthood which makes people change their political views in very uninformed ways,” he asserted.
Mingling at the event were supporters such as U of T alumni Domenic Kramer (founder of the Toronto Hemp Company on Yonge Street), a team of students from Ryerson making a documentary, and a spliff or two out in the open. Rahimi acknowledged this “civil disobedience” right away, but said that support for the event was solid. Given the easy-going atmosphere and nature of the event, he said he couldn’t see how anyone could take issue over a student-organized awareness day.
U of T student and Ontario Cannabis Activist Network member Mike McGown’s own experience as a supporter, however, has been quite the opposite.
McGown was arrested for carrying a sign at a rally of a similar nature at Queen’s Park recently for breach of peace, bearing the words: “Weed My Lips-Legalize it.”
Not only was he arrested, but he was also injured during his arrest after being thrown onto his face after positioning his sign next to the statue of King Edward at the centre of the park. He was further injured, he said, while being put into a police vehicle, and again when he was put into a holding cell for four hours.
The Day of Action blended pot enthusiasm with education and awareness. On the list of issues was the criminalization of medical marijuana, but participants said they came away informed about many different aspects of marijuana for all kinds of users and supporters.
