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April 10 – The Trial of Mark X…

In less than two weeks, Mark X of Toronto420.com will appear in the Ontario Provincial Court to stand trial on charges of cannabis production.

Those readers familiar to Toronto420.com may already know some of the details: Mark X was busted April 2004 for growing cannabis plants. Even though Mark X was growing medical marijuana plants for compassion clubs & people with disabilities and presently has his permit to grow medical cannabis, the courts still seek to punish him in order to maintain Canada’s irrational marijuana laws.

One of the main issues Mark will be addressing in the court is the poor way in which the present legal regulations address registered cannabis growers. There is very little legal definition or support for registered growers who wish to pool their resources into one large grow-room serving many people with health ailments. Another big goal for Mark and everyone on the Toronto420 team is to make rational improvements to the medical marijuana laws that, being so poorly defined, allow police to illegally search and seize medical cannabis crops.

When Mark was arrested in 2004, the police did not have a search warrant to enter his premises. They showed up on his doorstep early in the morning stating they could “smell marijuana smoke” in the hallway outside his door. Mark hadn’t even had his morning joint, and the plants he was growing were not in bloom stage, so the police officer was lying just before he barged his way into the apartment.

It’s such a sad statement of our society today that the police, those individuals supposedly charged with upholding justice, so often and regularly violate legal and moral laws in the sole defense of themselves and those in a position of authority. For so long now, government and “authority” seem to only further their own interests, their own profits, no matter the harm it causes to “the common man”.

But even as the current government and the police officers who protect their profits continue to wreak havoc on society, activists like you, me, and Mark X will continue to “fight the good fight”. We know cannabis is a safe, natural product to smoke (much safer than alcohol and tobacco!), and in fact alleviates the pain of countless people with health issues. The Canadian government knows the positive facts about cannabis, but refuses to admit it because the legalization of marijuana threatens the profits of the major tobacco and pharmaceutical corporations. And with the current Progressive Conservative party in power, lead by a compassionless Stephen Harper kowtowing to American interests, you can bet that the political atmosphere looming over medical marijuana will get darker for a few years.

But just like in the election of 1993 where the PC’s were voted down to two seats in a display by the populace that we were wise to their avaricious profiteering self-interests, we can show the power of the populace again…but only by standing together. Refuse to accept the harmful cannabis laws and be proud to be a smoker. Be an activist for what’s right: having the freedom to choose a natural, wonderful plant that humankind has used beneficially for thousands of years.

On April 10^th Mark X will face the charges brought against him with a resounding reply of “Innocent!” It is so ironic that Mark, one man growing medicine for people in pain, is viewed by the legal system as being a criminal while the government and police authorities continue to perform illegal activities and hurt so many innocent people.

That’s how we are controlled: we’re made to feel guilty. But you, I, and Mark X are not the guilty ones here; the guilt lays in those who would punish him, and us, for threatening their billion-dollar profits.

There is very little justice these days; true moral regard for humanity is often found only in the unfaltering voices of activists. Mark X is a true medical marijuana activist, but he is just one man. Send him an email of support and lend your voice to his own; everyone standing together can make real compassionate change, history has proven this fact again and again. Help Mark X make a change on April 10^th!

Your voice, my voice, his voice…as activists, as cannabis smokers, we’re all being hurt by the same “laws”, we’re all being controlled and attacked by immoral beings who have given up their humanity for a little power and authority. But through compassion, activism, and communication, the day of cannabis legalization will arrive. Those in power cannot stop us activists, protestors, and citizens: there are more of us than them, and everyday we become wiser to the ways in which government no longer serves us.

Your voice is you. Your voice is us. Together, we will win.