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Editors Note – Autumn Leaves

By Judith Stamps

autumn leaves blog

Here we are in the season of Home Canning, Harvest festivals, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and the dreaded Federal Election, a festival of sorts that we add once every four years.  It isn’t an enjoyable festival, though, and it is hardly an ancient tradition.  On some days it is so tedious, so juvenile, and so uncharitable that I am moved to imagine alternatives.  We might be better off appointing an enlightened monarch, for example, something like a secular pope, say for a ten-year term.  Then we could spend our time laboring happily in the fields organized by enlightened policy making.  But there is the problem of supply.  Where do we find such a monarch?   They appear to have been back ordered, or some such thing, for eons.  The ancient world may have had some enlightened kings or queens.  There was Matilda of Scotland back in the 12th century, of course, known for her charity.  Perhaps if we appointed Gayle Quin as monarch for the next decade we’d see progress: no more dull debates, no more staring at polls, and no more horse races masquerading as politics.  And she’d probably legalize cannabis.

Or maybe we could go seriously local, and create Free Zones organized and run by neighbourhood groups.  They could license and organize the dispensaries, foster community gardens, and have some real discussions on the basics:  food, housing, and cannabis.  There is the possibility of creating The Independent Republic of BC.  We never get the government that we vote for around here anyway.  Or we could have the Independent Province of Vancouver Island.  There is actually a group working on that project.  I’ve always like the idea of Cascadia, a fusion of areas of the Pacific Northwest:  BC, Washington State, and Oregon.  From the cultural standpoint this grouping makes more sense than the one we have, spanning the 49th parallel.  And just think.  The others have already legalized.  Alternatively, maybe we should go really big, and have an earth-sized equivalent of the United Federation of Planets, based on Star Trek philosophy.  There is no doubt that the Federation’s ultra-rationalist, Data, would end prohibition.

Short of such solutions, at least for now, we are stuck trying to choose the best of the not so great.  This fact leads to the doldrums—dead zones of the mind, far more scary than anything offered by the spirit of Halloween.  One way to fight the election doldrums and to plan for the future is to read and share the Cannabis Digest.  Owen Smith will charm you with his stories—soon to become legends—of fighting and subduing the Canadian prohibition dragon, currently under the protection of the Conservative Party of Canada.  Ted Smith will recount his rise from Ontario kid-hood to BC super-activist.  I’ll ramble on about politics and such.  Others will join, each with a unique story to tell.  With all of your help, we can remain on the forefront of progressive change in Canada.  Many thanks to our readers; don’t forget, we would love to hear from you.

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