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Smoked Out!
By Hempology | November 8, 2002
Mayoral contender still banned from UVic campus
From The Martlet, November 7th, 2002
By Robin Platts
The smell of pot smoke was absent from the air last Wednesday in front of the McPherson Library. The regular
4:20 “Smoke-in” at UVic was transformed into a mini-march, to meet the event’s spiritual founder at a location
just outside the campus.
After a short trek to a lawn at the corner of Henderson and Cedar Hill, the smokers convened and for the first
time in almost two years Ted Smith was present for the 4:20.
Smith, activist, medical marijuana proponent and mayoral candidate, is not allowed to set foot on the UVic campus
due to a ban brought on by his arrest on campus two years ago.
Saanich police arrested Smith on Nov. 8, 2000 after the 4:20, and charged him with trafficking after an
undercover police officer had infiltrated the circle of smokers.
“The cop pretended to take a toke and then put the roach in his pocket as evidence,” said Smith, who notes
that none of the other smokers present were arrested. “The arrest at the university was arbitrary.”
“The administration at UVic just wanted Saanich P.D. to throw the book at me,” Smith told the Martlet
at the time.
Student activist Ingmar Lee is currently petitioning to have Smith allowed back on campus.
“As soon as I discovered that Ted Smith had been ‘banned’ from UVic, I asked the university secretary,
Shelia Sheldon Collyer, about it,” said Lee. “(The secreatary) hadn’t been aware of this, and she
found it hard to believe that anyone could be barred from speaking or being at UVic. But after looking
into it she found that Ted had been banned from UVic – not by the university but by the court.”
Lee recently contacted UVic President David Turpin to ask that he intervene on Smith’s behalf in the name of
free speech.
“I asked (Turpin) to write a letter to the court asking that Ted’s restriction from being on campus be
rescinded,” said Lee. “I think Ted has significant support at UVic, and I think that students want to hear what he
has to say. Turpin refused initially, so I sent him an email, asking him to confirm that he would not try to do
something. After not hearing back from him, I initiated a petition, which was signed by 40 student members of
the registered UVSS club, Hempology 101.”
“On the day I was planning to submit the petition to the president, his secretary contacted me and asked me
to phone him,” said Lee. “He told me that he didn’t know anything about the incident, but that he would need
a more formal request if he was to intervene. So I then submitted the petition to his office and that’s where
it’s at right now.”
Despite Lee’s efforts, Smith doesn’t anticipate that he’ll be on campus in the near future.
“At this point, there’s very little chance that we’ll be able to temporarily lift the court order before the
election,” said Smith.
Since the student body may potentially include supporters for Smith’s mayoral bid, the fact that he can’t set foot
on campus is, inevitably, problematic.
“It’s very frusturating,” said Smith, who laments that he can no longer participate in on-campus forums and
discussions. “All the opportunities at UVic are amazing…” Also given that, aside from Lowe, the other most
likely contender is Ben Isitt, a UVic student and strong campus presence, Smith feels his absence from campus
will negatively impact his campaign.
“I just have to work with the resources and opportunities I have,” Smith said.
Most observers seem to think that a second term of Alan Lowe is as inevitable as a car accident in an episode
of Smallville. But Smith feels that a second serving of Lowe is not a sure thing.
“A lot of people said the Titanic was unsinkable,” said Smith, “and when it came down to the crunch, it wasn’t.”
“If I sneak up on the current mayor and get elected, there’ll be an interesting dilemma,” Smith adds. “It would
be seen as pretty narrow-minded not to let the mayor on campus.”
Although he isn’t physically present on campus, Smith is here in spirit every Wednesday.
Smith notes with pride that not only has the 4:20 continued in his absence, but it has also grown.
“They’re twice as big now as they ever were when I was there,” he said.
Last Wednesday’s march was a chance for more recent recruits to share some good vibes with the man who could
be mayor.
“We decided to give the students a chance to meet me,” said Smith. “It was a pretty unusual day, but 4:20′s more
a state of mind than it is a time of day.”
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