Pubdate: Sun, 30 Nov 2003
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2003 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Miro Cernetig
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

JOINT VENTURE HAS MONTREAL ABUZZ

Two Arrested As Marijuana Cafe Opens

Located across from police station

Montreal-By most measures, Chez Marijane ought not to create much of a
buzz.

The cafe's floor is nothing more than poorly varnished plywood. Its
walls are painted a sickly looking yellow. A man in dreadlocks behind
the bar of Marijane's - named for the hoary moniker for marijuana -
tells customers the cappuccino machine is still very much in the future.

"But you can smoke a joint," he adds, proffering an ashtray. "Just ask
somebody here for a try. They'll let you take a toke and I promise
you, most of the people here smoke some of the best marijuana in
Montreal - out-of-this-world product."

When it opened its doors yesterday at noon, an event marked by a crowd
of about 50 patrons lighting up joints, this spartan cafe in
Montreal's eastside became a notable institution in Quebec.

Its patrons plan to come here on a daily basis to thumb their nose at
Canada's drug laws, which they believe should be changed to legalize
pot.

"Do I look like somebody evil, do these people around you look evil?"
asked Antoine Debast, a 23-year-old university philosophy student
watching as other patrons puffed out thick, blue clouds that hung
below the cafe's ceiling.

"Do I look like a criminal, do they look like criminals?" he asked,
gesturing toward a man holding a newborn. "I go to university. I will
pay my taxes. But I'm in favour of the decriminalization of marijuana.
We're in favour of legalizing marijuana. Now, let's see what the
police might do about this."

Marijane's is not the first place in Canada that allows its customers
to openly smoke marijuana. There are a handful of such establishments
in Toronto and Vancouver and other Canadian cities.

But Montreal's pot cafe may be the first that challenges police so
directly - it is located across the street from a police station.

Yesterday, police arrested two people at the cafe who were holding
joints, said Hugo St-Onge, president of the Bloc Pot party.

"To tell you the truth, I'm surprised," St-Onge told Canadian Press
when reached at the police station where he was helping the two men,
aged 26 and 51. One of the men has multiple sclerosis, he added.

Earlier, as police officers tried to keep a crowd of media and
pro-marijuana activists off the street near their station, customers
of the cafe openly taunted officers as television cameras filmed the
event.

"What are you going to do if I smoke?" demanded one man, holding a
joint within arm's reach of a female traffic officer. "Why don't you
take this away from me? Arrest me."

A police officer, sitting in his squad car, quietly
fumed.

"We'll do something, don't you worry," he said, refusing to give his
name. "But we'll act when we're ready. Not when these drug users want
to get on television."

Police officials have already informed officials of Quebec's Marijuana
Party, who are behind the cafe, that it is illegal to smoke marijuana
on the premises. But those warnings are precisely what the group's
leaders, who also work under the name Bloc Pot, want to hear.

"A lot of Canadians think it's now legal to smoke marijuana," St-Onge
said. "But the laws are still against it, you can still be fined. We
want people to know that and force Paul Martin, Canada's next prime
minister, to change the law, so people can smoke pot without fear."

There's still a good deal of legal manoeuvring to be done by
Marijane's operators to ensure they don't face criminal prosecution.
The cafe does not sell marijuana, it does not allow customers to deal
the drug, it does not officially encourage anyone to light up and it
limits patrons to 16 years of age and over.

A proposed bill that would decriminalize marijuana for users caught
with less than 15 grams died when Parliament shut down this month. The
bill is expected to be reintroduced later.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin