Reefer refugee Renee Boje is finally free. In 1998 fearing persecution over medical marijuana charges, Boje fled from the US to Canada on the advice of her lawyer. Boje faced a 10 year mandatory minimum to life sentence in a US Federal Prison for her minor involvement in a well known medical marijuana and research garden owned by cancer patient and marijuana activist Todd McCormick and best selling author and Aids patient Peter McWilliams.

In 2001 Boje Married Canadian marijuana activist and author Chris Bennett and in 2002 she gave birth to their Canadian son, Shiva Sun Bennett. Many had hoped that Boje's marriage to a Canadian and the birth of her Canadian son would be enough for her to be allowed to stay in Canada and avoid the ten year sentencing she was facing in the US. But sadly through the decision of the same Justice Minister who allowed US authorities to raid Emery Seeds, this was not to be the case.

As some may recall Boje lost her fight against US extradition when the Liberal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler decided against her in 2005. Boje and her family were devastated by the decision because they were told by her lawyers that the Minister’s appeal was her best chance for winning her freedom in Canada and that there was a 99% chance she would lose her appeal in the higher courts with the current Conservative government in power. Boje appealed Cotler's decision and in that intervening period she received an offer from the US for a plea bargain and negotiations then were initiated between Boje's Canadian lawyer John Conroy and Federal US Prosecutors in LA.

On August 10th Boje traveled to Los Angeles for an August 14th court date in which she pled guilty to possession of ½ of a gram of marijuana. Judge George H. King who was the judge throughout the McCormick and McWilliams hearings sentenced Boje to one year’s probation, giving her permission to reside in Canada with her family. Boje returned to Canada on August 15th and Canadian officials almost denied her entry into Canada, but relented and let her stay for one week while a decision about her status was in the works at Immigration Canada. In the end after a week of worrying she might be deported Canadian Immigration officials granted Boje a 6 month visitors permit, which will likely give her time to secure Canadian citizenship so she can remain in Canada permanently with her family.

For further information refer to Boje’s website at: http://www.reneeboje.com
Contact Renee Boje at rboje@hotmail.com

thats great news to hear chris. glad your family will be able to stay together.

It's great that it has turned out like this, but niether of you should ever have had to go through this bullshit in the first place! Congratulations, I hope you can both be safe now and go on to prosper. Good luck.

Great news! Sounds like she isn't out of the woods yet, but hopefully those 6 months will be enough time to secure her Canadian citizenship.

Thanks for this Chris. I never knew much about the story. Read many many posts about Rene, never knew she was your wife, never knew much more than she was kicked out/dragged out of Canada because of something to do with herb. You gave a nice outline of the whole situation. You must be a very happy couple right now.

Congratulations.

I'm thrilled to hear this news!

Wishing you many happy years for the rest of your lives!

This is fantastic news Chris. I'm very happy to read this.

Cheers

This day goes down in my memory books as one of the longest most painful waits in history !

Let me tell you....



....takes on a whole new dimension after 6 hours....and counting...when you are with a bright and energetic four year old...

A truly great day with a wonderful outcome! I am still getting goosebumps from the look in Chris's eyes as he gave us the thumbs up through the glass and then in Renees eyes as she walked through those doors and announced she was free!


Renee, a free woman, holding a special 'guardian angel' that helped her come safely home to Canada, where she now belongs!

I give thanks!

...and I have a niggly little feeling we are one fairy step closer to the end of this insane war on families!

Finally, A Victory!

peace thru pot
freedom thru activism
love thru your heart

cannagirl

great news!!!

Now lets get that citizenship

Halleluja! Welcome to Canada all over again. Oh, many thanks for hanging in there, Renee.

Ken