 |
| Let Them Eat Cake! |
Recently, I stumbled across an event that was just too, well, different to not blog about. One of my fave bands that I promote through various means was playing in the
6 Nations of the Grand River Reserve near
Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and I thought that a unique location and opportunity to check out that part of Ontario and culture, and possibly scope out some
local aboriginal talent as well.
Riding with
Ray Yap, composer and lead guitar / singer for reggae / rockers,
The Yappers, on his first visit to a reserve, he seemed mesmerized by all the signs advertising tax free products like cigarettes and gas - with gas actually under $1 litre! His reaction was like we were rolling into Vegas or in something like the
Twighlight Zone!
After missing the place one time - as it's signage was hard to spot - we finally arrived, and, walking inside, found a beautiful spot to play - barn-like in its inner design, with high wood beam supported ceilings adorned with strategically placed chandeliers. The stage and sound equipment were top notch too, including the conveniently mobile sound booth. I'm told the place could get rowdy at times but on this night, as it would turn out, there was not even a need for a doorman - although some pretty scrappy looking gentlemen stood by who could certainly assert some control on someone need be I was sure.
 |
| Host for event in 6 Nations |
As I wandered around during set up, I was amazed at all the paraphernalia their sponsors had put out for prizes and display as well as an array of baked goods that were made with pot, complete with a big cake, adorned with green nougat pot leaves. It was almost like something out of a
Cheech and Chong movie but in the future! Hey, man, shit happens when you're covering a reggae rock band. Ha.
The no-alcohol event was in support of
medical marijuana for a fundraiser for the group called the
MMAR Coalition Against Repeal who are on a mission to raise funds for lawyers fees in order to continue their battle to preserve the right for people to have the right to grow their own medicine (and food) - namely
marijuana.
The Coalition which boasts over 6,600 members across Canada has
raised over $144,000 so far towards the
$250,000 needed to hire their top gun Lawyer,
Johnny Conroy to take it to the next legal step. Essentially their argument is simple - Canadians are constitutionally entitled to grow medicine and food - without government control.
The (now former) federal government, for its part, had unveiled a
list of reasons pot shouldn't be 'legal' including scientific, and fact based nuggets, such as "it's a gateway drug to harder drugs". Wow! Really hard hitting stuff, no puns intended. Former heavyweight boxing champion,
George Chuvalo, who lost two sons to heroin overdoses and a wife to
suicide thinks
tobacco is the gateway drug. His son emphasized that fact before dying and Chuvalo has relayed his message for years now, yet the government has never acted to close this "gateway", nor created a
list, despite also now knowing that the addictive nicotine laden
drug also causes lung cancer.
" Tobacco is usually the first addictive poison a young person will introduce to their bodies" George Chuvalo
All successive federal governments, from my understanding, had always denied marijuana had any medical value - while at the same time
holding the patent to the medical development of cannabis. This fueled conspiracy theorists that it was a cancer cure that government and big pharmaceuticals wanted to hide, and then control it, on their terms.
I'm not quite convinced on the cancer cure-all yet but I do believe there is medicinal value to be gleaned certainly - in some cases
the only relief one can get - such as those afflicted with
constant convulsions - so there seems no doubt now.
Meantime the government has stopped issuing any more new grow licenses.
 |
| Event Poster |
 |
| Vessels for use and growing |
The tricky part for government is grappling control of it, given that cannabis is becoming more accepted as a medicine / treatment, and that seems covered by the peoples'
right to grow it.
Thus the smoke-screens with the moral reasons for them controlling its sale and manufacture of it in forms for ingesting, such as pill, food, oil, etc. The government simply has not been good frankly at handling this part, or even growing on a quality on par as most self-growers and often lack consistency - something
MMAR Repealists say they can manage much better. And that patients know what form or type works best for themselves.
For example, a person may find a certain strain seems to make them want to clean and do things, while another it made them feel groggy, but only the patient would know which side affect was affecting them and in what way, and they then would be able to adjust what product form they took to best suit their ailment. Surely most Doctors won't have the ability to decipher that while 'prescribing". The government model would have you get what you get - and them large profits.
 |
| VIP upstairs |
Another argument the government has trotted out is that it will
cause crime and gang activity. Ha. Who do they think is controlling the bulk of the sales now? Even if the government tried to assert control, such as their recent attempts to clamp down on tobacco smuggling, people will still access it from the street, because it's cheaper - but
not safer. So self-grown or a trusted supply of your medicine type is safer, more efficient, and stress free.
The establishment's clumsy attempts thus far at being
proprietor of a medicine they
claimed for years didn't exist, only exasperates the issue and so groups like the
MMAR Coalition Against Repeal raising this issue in the courts and fighting a constitutional challenge is really the only way this can be decided.
It kind of reminds me of what always seems wrong with "do-gooder" programs; for example when they leave people with lived experience off the organizing committees and boards, resulting in ineffective programs or poor distribution of essential services. No difference. Surely this is one issue where "
grass roots" input applies!?
 |
| Hey!..who ate part of this pot cookie? |
The rest of the evening was an experience and a half, with an outdoor area set up for members to use their various medicines and share ideas and usage vessels, and, where I learned new terms such as
Mango-melon, and what a
dab was ( essentially oil made from cannabis). Lol. I also learned weed can be made into a solid butter-like substance from which "dabs' can be scraped off to be consumed for medicine without tobacco use.
In addition to the entertainment provided on this night, and the baked goods, and table munchies, solo singer keyboardist,
The Lounge Lizard, also appeared onstage following
The Yappers playing with unbridled passion it seemed this night, as well
the hosts had an array of hip hop performers on the later slate, including somelocal aboriginal performers who rocked it!
 |
| Prizes Sponsor |
The main event however, was a talk by legalize activist
Jason Wilcox flown in from
B.C. to address the group, and who's fight for the right to grow is where this all began. His knowledge on the
Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations, which the government is currently trying to get enacted, is what alerted people to the issue, as essentially, he says, they are trying to remove the right for the sick and disabled to grow their own medicine while pushing the "industry" to commercial growers expected to make patients start to pay up to 4 x what they had been previously, all for making a killing in a new taxes revenue stream.
In the best of times, I'm the world's biggest skeptic, until I see cold hard facts, and enough of them, and I'm still up in the air about
some of the claims for medical marijuana - but I certainly don't deny it offers clear cut,
life altering treatment in some cases and would encourage - if the government really wants to do some 'good" that they start testing
canabinboids, as well as the non psycho active
C.B.D.'s, for all the various claims that people are saying its use of it is doing for them - like oil treatment for skin cancer etc - so they can be brought further into the treatment fold.
Government can't bogart the issue forever.
I met and wrote about the man who introduced
John Lennon to former Prime Minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who then smoked pot with Trudeau's "Commission on Marijuana" reps, so it's certainly not new to government either.
It seems ironic now that a prodigal son may be 'king" soon, and, when that happens, it is more likely the time for real change on this issue in Canada.
Recently, the Supreme Court sided with those choosing other methods than smoking it, and so, if you're a medical user, these may just be the horses to put your money on for this race! Watch for a MMARCAR event near you!
Peace Out!
When I was a 'kid" rock and roll bars were the norm. If we weren't always mesmerized by the next big acts coming to Toronto we were entrenched in the bar band scene, each having favorites.
Recently, an old haunt from the heyday, the Silver Dollar, was designated an historical building. Wow, they must feel this is a breed becoming extinct. The SD featuring top acts on the scene at one time along with the never a cover Gasworks, upstart Rock & Roll Heaven, the Rivoli, Diamond Club, Big Bop etc and what became The Guvernment, which just closed last week and had once housed bigger acts - all gone now. Ditto the El Mocambo where recently I saw one of the final shows there featuring The Yappers.. The bars that do house live acts still, often prefer cover tunes, eliminating an entire element to the scene, including stunting the artistry of live performers. 
The evening will open with house music followed by TPE intros and fun stuff before the phenomenal Brits and American blues inspired Sean Abbott Band, playing a mix of originals and covers in the rock and blues genres, take the stage. Sean, who has played with greats including guys who played with Clapton is expected to electrify the room, along with his band-mates, making for an unbelievable live experience!
Hip Hop 'till you drop! Stoked!
