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Victoria pot activist fined $500
By: Dirk Meissner, Canadian Press, 02-02-05

VICTORIA -- A medical marijuana activist was fined $500 Wednesday for lighting up five joints at a pro-pot rally.

Leon Edward (Ted) Smith, 35, was found guilty of marijuana trafficking after he lit up five marijuana joints at a pro-marijuana rally at the University of Victoria in November 2000.

A provincial court judge rejected Smith's arguments that he had a constitutional right to smoke marijuana.

"His behaviour could only be described as poking his finger in the eye of the law," said Judge Judith Kay. "What Mr. Smith was doing was illegal. What Mr. Smith was doing is trafficking."

Smith spoke to about 40 people at the November 2000 rally at the University of Victoria. He talked about the benefits of marijuana and his objections to the law prohibiting it, then lit up five joints and passed them out to the crowd.

After the rally, plainclothes officers who had stood in the crowd moved in and arrested Smith, a former Victoria mayoral candidate and one-time university rugby player in Ontario.

Smith's lawyer argued for a conditional discharge, saying it would be unfair to sentence his client for sharing a joint when millions of Canadians do the same thing on a regular basis.

"This is the wrong kind of time, completely inappropriate time period to be handing out harsh sentences," said lawyer Robert Moore-Stewart. "It will be counterproductive in the extreme not to give a conditional discharge."

At a time when Canada is considering relaxing its marijuana laws, he said sentencing Smith for trafficking for sharing marijuana would send out the wrong message.

Crown prosecutor Richard Fowler argued that Smith should not be jailed, but should face some kind of punishment because he chose to publicly break the marijuana laws.

Outside court, Smith said he will continue his campaign to change Canada's marijuana laws, but will think twice about smoking marijuana in public.

Smith faced a maximum sentence of five years in jail. He said he plans to appeal the conviction.

"For people to be charged with trafficking for sharing a single joint in public, that's a very serious offence that no one in their right mind would really want to have happen to them," said Smith.

"The deterrent now for myself and others is certainly not to be sharing in public for fear of being charged with such a serious offence."

Smith runs a marijuana buyers club out of a downtown Victoria bookstore.

Smith's buyers' club provides pot, including marijuana peanut butter cookies, to people who produce verification they are ill and could benefit from it.

Last month, Smith received a conditional discharge on trafficking charges laid when police seized cookies and massage oil from his buyer's club that contained marijuana resin.

Trafficking charges against Smith relating to a police raid on his bookstore in 2002 were stayed earlier this month, but he still faces other marijuana charges laid in March for a marijuana cookie giveaway he staged.