By Ted Smith
Well it has been a very exciting spring for us at the Cannabis Digest. A victory party was held at Gayle Quin’s property after the June 11 Supreme Court of Canada victory, giving supporters a chance to celebrate with her, Owen Smith, Kirk Tousaw, myself and many other activists. The joy could be felt across the country, and has lasted for weeks.
Everyone was super happy to be celebrating with Gayle, who came very close to dying last fall. She is still quite frail and weak but she is definitely slowly improving. Please check out her note for more details on her fight to stay alive.
It has been surreal saving her life with cannabis while we fought our way to the Supreme Court of Canada for her medicine, and we are so very grateful to everyone who has supported us through this terrible ordeal. We hope that she is able to recover enough to travel with me a lot more as time goes by, but for now we are just so grateful she is alive and witnessing all of the incredible developments in the movement. She has truly become a beacon of hope for everyone fighting cancer or supporting someone who is.
Over time the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club has been introducing a number of new extracts. The club has always been a leader in providing alternatives to smoking cannabis and this court case has only brought more attention to the group’s efforts. It takes a long time for new members to get to know everything available to them, but the staff is always happy to take the time to explain how to use everything.
Everyone is very happy to hear that the city of Victoria is getting ready to license dispensaries. So far it seems like the bylaws will not negatively affect the club, but as you can read in my article there are many questions remaining. For now, though, staff and members can breath a big sigh of relief as the fear of police raids has diminished substantially.
This year the April 420 celebrations in Victoria, and across Canada, went without any major incidents. There were close to 2,000 at city hall and the local media reports were decent, with no close-ups of teenagers on camera. There was a great deal of excitement in the air, as everyone can feel the cracks in prohibition turning into pathways.
On Canada Day we had an awesome game of the world’s only gameshow, REACH FOR THE POT, on the front steps of the Victoria courthouse. It has been a tradition for a few years to hotbox the front steps of the courthouse on Cannabis day at 4:20pm and again in the evening of Halloweed. The teams were full of all-star cannabis activists and the video is available on-line.
Our next big event is our first ever annual Team 420 Dodgeball Tournament on Sat Aug 8. So many have missed the weekly Team 420 dodgeball games, but it is not possible for me to start those back up. This is also the first event for which we have got sponsors, and a special thanks go out to Crop King Seeds, Sacred Herb, Beard Bros.,Jupiter and BC Smoke Shop.
Of course the big, huge event this year for us will be the 20th anniversary of Hempology 101 in Victoria, which will be celebrated on Wednesday Sept 2. We will start smoking cannabis about 7 pm in Centennial Square before we march to the legislature for some group pictures. With so many historic developments in the scene, this will be a grand occasion for those who have come to Hempology 101 events over the years and newcomers alike.
The following week, the 420 gatherings at the University of Victoria start back up again for the school year. With the circle firmly back in the middle of campus, it is certain the group will once again be the largest student club at UVic. Watch out for the UBC Hempology 101 club, too, as it has been quite active in the last couple of years, and is poised to grow even bigger this year.
For those who really love our paper and would like a bunch of back issues, we are now selling 15 old copies for $20 delivered, in Canada. Legalization is around the corner, and our older issues have been documenting cannabis history for years. They are full of interesting and inspiring stories of the people and organizations fighting for freedom. Get yours before they are all gone.
Finally, if you are on-line, please check out our blogs, as we publish several blogs a week to keep you up-to-date. Last year we had over 500,000 visits to our site and this year we expect even more, as our team of writers is constantly changing to give new perspectives on the fight to liberate cannabis. Hope everyone has a wicked summer.
Read more from Ted Smith on the Cannabis Digest Blogs
