For the record I would like to reiterate some of what I said at Michael's memorial and tribute as well as a few other thoughts;

Her passing was way too short and it was only in her passing that I realized that I was older than her, because she had always made me feel ike she was kind of my mom, when she was around I always felt like I was safe and everything was under control.

During the early days at the Herb school I was also working at the CCHQ, building all kinds of cabinets and things and it was Michelle who ran the show so I was privileged to get to know her well and we always got along great.
My best memory of her was at the beginning of the first Freedomtour, I was 3/4 of the way up the Malahat on Vancouver Island when Michelle called me to wish me well, see how I was doing and encourage me. I don't think she knew how much that helped me, what I was doing was very hard, but her call made a difference as her bubbly, confident attitude carried me easily to the summit, and from there I never looked back.
Whenever I was organizing speakers for rally's she would always oblige, she was always my go to person whenever I needed somone to fill space in a pinch, she loved O'Cannabis and told me I was a pot superstar.
We've lost, not just a soldier, but a general. I doubt anyone will ever fill her shoes but thankfully she has inspired untold numbers to follow in her footsteps.
We will go forward holding her up proudly as a shining example to others as to what can be done and ways to go about it.
She burned so bright and her light will keep burning brightly, long after we're gone and our grandchildren are gone.

I have been somewhat fortunate in my life with not having to deal with much death, but 15 years ago I lost my two best friends a year apart from each other and 6 mnths before my second friend died, he said to me "if I die, don't mourn me, celebrate my life."

Her passing is so sad and painful and I know that pain will always be there, thankfully it is tempered by the fact that she will never be forgotten and her life will always be celebrated.

We love you Michell, we will always love you!

Neil Magnuson
freedomtour.ca
www.stilltrippinmovie.com
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The good news is she is now at peace and no longer in pain and she is undoubtedly already well on her way to organizing the other angels and making heaven a better place.

Future proposals;
I believe that there are at least 3 aspects of future proposals that should be handled differently.

On the one hand there is some justification to address potential harms associated with using cannabis that some regulations and restrictions are reasonable when it comes to COMMERCIAL production and distribution.
Things like age restrictions (somewhere closer to 16 than 21 and with parents making the decision), warnings about potentials for novice users and high doses and perhaps quality requirements with respect to the use of chemicals and flushing etc.
Enforcement of these restrictions should NOT be dealt with by the criminal law unless criminal levels of damage can be proven to have been intentionally ( or irresponsibly) done.

On the other hand there can be NO justification for restrictions on individuals with respect to personal production and use including the private distribution to friends, family and associates.


The third area would be research into the overwhelming potential of cannabis for medical purposes should be supported and encouraged, as it is in keeping with the intended role of public servants to do so on the public's behalf which to this point seems to be the opposite of what they have been trying to achieve.

The govt nor anyone else owns the plants and do not have the right to restrict adults possesing and using to them.
All plants and objects can be harmful if used in harmful ways, outlawing the plant is neither the answer or within the purview of public servants.
Warning the public and regulations for COMMERCIAL operations ARE the answer. ( Bering in mind that when regulations and restrictions on commercial operations reach the point that it makes more sense for the public to buy from the black market, they MUST be scaled back)

Neil
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Time wounds all heels

I tacked this on to my letter sent out to MP's by whyprohibition.ca opposing s-10;

Regulating the commercial distribution of potentially harmful substances with education and evidence based restrictions is the way people are protected from harmful substances but those regulations and restrictions Must be scaled back when a black market becomes the norm for obtaining such substances.Prohibition is the antithesis of control that results in an INCREASE in demand and abuse of the substance along with a loss of the public's respect for police and governments. As for the public, the rights and freedoms of individual adults to choose without interference from the state unless they are harming others demands that there be NO prohibitions or restrictions on adults growing or using nature in any way desired, other than commercial enterprise, as stated before. No one owns the plants or nature or other people.The role of public servants is to protect the rights and freedoms of all adult citizens. Freedom is the right to do or not do whatever you choose without interference unless you are causing harm to others.

Neil magnuson

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WE do not need or want the govt to use OUR money to protect us from other peoples cannabis use. duh!

In case anyone isn't up to speed, Dana Larson is running for the leadership of the B.C.NDP.
The catch is if you want to help the cause by voting for Dana in the leadership race you must be a member of the NDP no later than Jan. 17th 2011.
It's not hard to do and it does not cost much ($1.00 if your under 25 or under employed)
You can join online with a credit card or go to one of Dana's dispensaries or to the Vancouver seedbank.
Don't delay do it today!

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Limited, accountable, transparent PUBLIC SERVANTS.

Here's a response I got from Michael Ignatieff's office to an e-mail I sent him;

Dear Sir/Madame:



On behalf of Michael Ignatieff, I would like to acknowledge receipt of your recent email regarding Bill S-10, the Penalties for Organized Drug Crime Act.



Significant evidence relating to this legislation has emerged since this bill was introduced, as a result, members of the Liberal Caucus intend to conduct extensive study in the House of Commons. We believe that strong drug laws are part of what is needed to fight gang violence, but equally important are crime prevention initiatives and the proper funding of law enforcement agencies which is where the Harper Conservatives are failing Canadians.



As with his entire agenda, Stephen Harper’s focus is only on sentencing – he does nothing to promote community safety, to address drug addiction in a meaningful way, or to actually reduce crime. While we support taking measures to reduce gang-related violence, we worry that this is an example of the Conservatives emulating the failed drug policies that were unsuccessful in the United States.



Thank you for taking the time to write to the Leader of the Opposition.



Sincerely,



The Office of Michael Ignatieff

Leader of the Opposition

Here's my reply back:

Thank you for replying to my e-mail, however I must take issue with your statement that " strong drug laws are part of what is needed to fight gang violence". It is precisely BECAUSE of the "drug laws" that gangs are as powerful as they are and "stronger drug laws " only make for stronger and more violent gangs. It is the attempted prohibition that INCREASES demand and ABuse of drugs that also GARUNTEES gangs and black market violence, as it is that providing adults with regulated access to currently "illegal drugs " will put the "drug gangs" out of business.
Not to mention the prohibiting of individual citizens possessing/growing /using or abusing NATURAL plants and their derivatives is not in the purview of PUBLIC SREVANTS whose JOB it is to PROTECT the right of said citizens to do or not do as they choose UNLESS they are causing significant and demonstrable harm to OTHERS.

Prohibition is an affront to individual sovereignty and at the root of most of the crime and disrespect for governments in our society today.
Public SERVANTS do have a role to play in the COMMERCIAL production and public sales of drugs and other substances in the form of regulations, taxation and restrictions ONLY IF need for such measures proves to be the case, Bering in mind that adults have the right to possess poisons (gasoline, pesticides and junk food to name but a few) and that when regulations, taxes and/or restrictions get to the point where it makes a black market a viable option then THEY MUST BE SCALED BACK.

It is long overdue that prohibition be once and for all discarded and be replaced by science based regulations.
It is also long overdue that public servants STOP protecting private big money interests and instead protect the rights and freedoms of the people they are elected and sworn to protect.

Mr. Ignatieff, if you take that stance and fight for the rights and freedoms of individual Canadians by ending "drug prohibition" then you will have my support and the support of literally millions of my fellow citizens.

Sincerely,
Neil Magnuson

Now those vicious and moronic federal conservatives want to further erode our freedoms and empower drug gangs by prohibiting Salvia devinorum.
Here's my letter to the regulators;

The prohibition of plants and /or their derivatives is an abomination and an assault against nature and the rights of adults to
choose as they desire UNLESS they are harming OTHERS.
Attempting to prohibit Salvia will only INCREASE the allure and demand, GUARANTEEING a black market supply completely void of regulations
that would otherwise serve to address any potential harms that can arise from the substances abuse.
While reasonable regulations imposed on the commercial sale of Salvia are warranted, IT is not in the purview of public SERVANTS to prohibit adults
from possessing ANY plants and or their derivatives UNTIL and UNLESS they are harming OTHERS in significant and demonstrative ways.

Natural law endows adults with unalienable human rights which override any man made laws.
Using criminal sanctions against people possessing natural plants CAUSES far more harm than the substance in question and as such is itself
a criminal act against sovereign individuals as well as the very foundation of our FREE society.

These prohibitions (opium, cocoa including and especially cannabis) and proposed prohibitions, are gross violations and are in violation of the publics trust.
To fail to properly regulate the COMMERCIAL sale of plants and or their derivatives that are PROVEN to have potential negative consequences, is a dereliction of duty,
To leave the commercial sale to the black market forces is inviting "Al Capone" and his cronies to prey upon our children in yet another way, directly CAUSED by the prohibition.

Salvia is not the problem, lack of education and regulations is the problem. and prohibition MAKES THE PROBLEM WORSE.

These are not just my opinions, these are the findings of study after study and experts from all related fields. Prohibition CREATES and FUELS a black market that gets
increasingly more violent the more enforcement of the laws is increased.

Sincerly,
Neil Magnuson
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I will be back on the road doing an abbreviated version of the Freedomtour in conjunction with GS JOE films filming of the sequel to the "Trip" documentary this spring. www.stilltrippinmovie.com

Black market horticulturists, thanks to some creative gene splicing,have developed a new strain of cannabis that looks and smells just like tobacco and with the new strain being pre-rolled and packaged like their "legal" cousins, law enforcement officials are scrambling to find a way to tell them apart................ In a related story, tobacco manufactures are soon to release a new line of cigarettes that contain a cannabinoid like additive that gives the consumer a feeling of euphoria.
A law enforcement officer who wishes to stay anonymous comments that with new "mandatory minimum sentences on the horizon people can rest assured that if what you are smoking is not a deadly poison and it makes you feel good, you will be taking a taxpayer funded vacation to the big house."
Also there is a rumour that the black market is developing a new form of drinkable cocaine, to be marketed with the slogan "Coke, it's the real thing, crack one open today".

Mr. Toews, my name is Neil Magnuson, I am a 54year old 3rd generation Canadian who has a keen sense of right and wrong and a deep feeling of pride in what it is to be Canadian.
I am taking the time to write to you today about what myself and many of my fellow Canadians feel is a grave injustice with respect to the plight of our fellow Canadian, Marc Emery.
Dispite what you might think about cannabis and the MILLIONS of Canadian that choose to consume it, the fact of the matter is that Mr. Emery is motivated by his believe that the laws against using, possessing and selling cannabis are an affront to freedom and are in direct conflict with the values that define what it is to be Canadian.
I Myself am outraged that Canada is complicit in the incarceration of Marc Emery but mostly about the failed, costly and UNJUST policy of cannabis prohibition.
The laws against Canadians who choose to use cannabis degrade the meaning of a crime and criminalize people who are NOT criminals, in that there is NO INTENT to harm others, there is, in almost all cases, no damage done to anyone and no victim involved.
What the laws against cannabis do achieve is great disrespect for police and the government, an INCREASE in demand, a guaranteed black market that just gets MORE dangerous the more you try and enforce your way out of it and millions of Canadians labeled as "criminals".

Not only does Mr. Emery not qualify as a criminal by any sane definition of what a crime is, HE IS DEFINITELY A FREEDOM FIGHTER and has been for his whole life.

He does NOT deserve to be incarcerated in the first place and he should NOT be abandoned by his government to serve a sentence in a country he has never even visited.

I implore you on behalf of all Canadians who value our great country our international image and the value of doing the right thing. Please do the right thing and, at the very least, do your part to bring Mr. Emery back to Canada, his home and the home of his wife and supporters, where he deserves to be.

Sincerely,
Neil Magnuson

I will, be at the 420 event in Vansterdam on Wednesday,with the GS_JOE documentary film crew, documenting the event and doing interviews for the "Still Trippin" documentary.
www.stilltrippinmovie.com

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Freedom is a natural right and cannabis is natures greatest gift to mankind.
Cannabis prohibition is anti-freedom and a crime against nature and nature.
freedomtour.ca