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Court Too Stuffed For Cookies.
By admin | November 12, 2004
By Ted Smith
Nov 12, 2004.
No one was surprised in court Monday Nov. 8 when the courthouse did not have an available judge and my cookie trial was delayed to March of 2005.
It has almost been 4 years since I was arrested before the annual pot cookie giveaway on Nov. 15, 2000, International Medical Marijuana Day. This was the first attempt at the cookie trial because I have had several trials delayed for constitutional arguments to be heard before the Supreme Court of Canada, and now the trials are occurring one at a time.
On Sept. 7, 2004, Justice Chaperon granted an acquittal to Colby Budda and myself, after the circumstances for a police search and seizure on Jan. 3, 2002 at the headquarters of the CBCof C were fully explained to her. The CBC of C is the oldest public provider of cannabis-based products in the country, with about 1,400 active members. The next trial scheduled for Jan. 4, 2005 is regarding the raid of March 2002, which is the last time I went to jail and the main reason the club is in so much debt. Given that the government did not appeal Chaperons decision, which is very strongly worded, it is expected that on Jan. 4 all charges will be dropped. The last raid of Feb. 2003 is set for trial in March 2005, and those charges should also get thrown out.
The next trial expected to start in Jan. stems from over 4 years ago, Nov 8, 2000. Undercover officers pretended to be students at a weekly 420 meeting of the UVic Hempology 101 Club, took a toke from a joint I passed around and out the roach in their pocket. Minutes after the meeting ended, I was arrested, charged with trafficking and banned from campus. Several violations of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms occurred during this arrest regarding sections 1,2,7,9,11 and 15. We were granted a Constitutional Question Hearing initially, but fought that process when it became clear that the Charter arguments would be held before and separate from the trial.
For the past 4 years, my, lawyer, Robert Moore-Stewart, and I, have been arguing the cannabis laws are grossly disproportionate, arbitrary and ineffective. Dr. James Geiwitz and UVic sociology professor James Hackler will appear as expert witnesses in the U. Vic. trial. Dr. Geiwitz testified in the last trial and helped convince the judge that the benefits of cannabis far outweigh potential harms and that much research needs to done.
This year on Nov. 15, IMMD, a 1 hour slide show will provide the public with its first full visual presentation about the work of the CBC. A silent art auction will start at 2 and end at 4:20pm at the downtown library, with the slide show from 3-4.
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