Page 5 - GK_#6_V2N2_Neat
P. 5
ground and said, no matter what you say, we realize that cannabis
Gooey Rabinski: When did you begin your activist career?
Marko Ivancicevic: The first event I attended was the Mil- is a legal substance at this point and, no matter how many times
lion Marijuana March in Toronto in May of 2003. I learned how you want to tell us that it’s illegal, we’re not going to budge. We
the cannabis community as a whole was being attacked by our threw out the name of our attorney, Alan Young [a prominent can-
nabis-friendly Toronto attorney and law professor] and told them,
government. I met some of the medical users who were experi-
if they really wanted to discuss the issue, we could call him. Most
encing problems with Health Canada and getting their [federal]
legal exemptions [to grow, possess, and consume] and the prob- of the time they would just say they’d been asked to remove us
lems with the program in general. from the property and ask us to step aside. We were nice and lis-
Around this time, there was a great deal of talk about can- tened to them at that point.
nabis being legal in Canada. It was then that I decided I wanted to GR: You’re involved with the Toronto Compassion Centre
get involved and do something for the movement because it [TCC]. What’s your role at TCC?
seemed like our government had no compassion. I realized that MI: I don’t really have a title, to be honest. We just identify
this is something that I want to fight for because I’ve always been people as being “volunteers.”
involved with fighting the powers that be. I eventually got involved Basically, as a TCC volunteer, we try to help alleviate the
pain that the members suffer due to their ailments. One of the
in organizing events in Ontario and met fellow Toronto activist
Eric Wood. In 2003, he and I decided to put together an event called ways that we do that is working with them to learn the strains of
Cannabian Day. For several weeks leading up to Cannabian Day, medical cannabis that are most suitable for their needs.
we held smoke outs at CityTV [Toronto’s largest television net- GR: What forms of medicine does TCC provide?
work] and City Hall, as well as at various parks and major down- MI: We provide access to cannabis, tinctures, and food. We
town street corners. also provide access to various hashes and oils. So if there’s a mem-
ber who doesn’t really like the option of smoking, there are defi-
GR: What, specifically, were you trying to accomplish?
MI: Eric and I were just trying to raise awareness of the is- nitely other things that we can provide them. I would say — in
sue. We knew that the average Canadian knew nothing about the terms of demographics, for people over 45 — edibles are usually
current state of our laws and we needed to get that information to better. Typically, once you reach a certain age, your immune sys-
everybody. tem sort of goes a bit. In terms of actual long-lasting effectiveness,
GR: How did the local authorities respond? edibles are the way to go.
MI: We had many altercations with police. We stood our continued next page
greenkind magazineVol II, No 2 2007 5
Gooey Rabinski: When did you begin your activist career?
Marko Ivancicevic: The first event I attended was the Mil- is a legal substance at this point and, no matter how many times
lion Marijuana March in Toronto in May of 2003. I learned how you want to tell us that it’s illegal, we’re not going to budge. We
the cannabis community as a whole was being attacked by our threw out the name of our attorney, Alan Young [a prominent can-
nabis-friendly Toronto attorney and law professor] and told them,
government. I met some of the medical users who were experi-
if they really wanted to discuss the issue, we could call him. Most
encing problems with Health Canada and getting their [federal]
legal exemptions [to grow, possess, and consume] and the prob- of the time they would just say they’d been asked to remove us
lems with the program in general. from the property and ask us to step aside. We were nice and lis-
Around this time, there was a great deal of talk about can- tened to them at that point.
nabis being legal in Canada. It was then that I decided I wanted to GR: You’re involved with the Toronto Compassion Centre
get involved and do something for the movement because it [TCC]. What’s your role at TCC?
seemed like our government had no compassion. I realized that MI: I don’t really have a title, to be honest. We just identify
this is something that I want to fight for because I’ve always been people as being “volunteers.”
involved with fighting the powers that be. I eventually got involved Basically, as a TCC volunteer, we try to help alleviate the
pain that the members suffer due to their ailments. One of the
in organizing events in Ontario and met fellow Toronto activist
Eric Wood. In 2003, he and I decided to put together an event called ways that we do that is working with them to learn the strains of
Cannabian Day. For several weeks leading up to Cannabian Day, medical cannabis that are most suitable for their needs.
we held smoke outs at CityTV [Toronto’s largest television net- GR: What forms of medicine does TCC provide?
work] and City Hall, as well as at various parks and major down- MI: We provide access to cannabis, tinctures, and food. We
town street corners. also provide access to various hashes and oils. So if there’s a mem-
ber who doesn’t really like the option of smoking, there are defi-
GR: What, specifically, were you trying to accomplish?
MI: Eric and I were just trying to raise awareness of the is- nitely other things that we can provide them. I would say — in
sue. We knew that the average Canadian knew nothing about the terms of demographics, for people over 45 — edibles are usually
current state of our laws and we needed to get that information to better. Typically, once you reach a certain age, your immune sys-
everybody. tem sort of goes a bit. In terms of actual long-lasting effectiveness,
GR: How did the local authorities respond? edibles are the way to go.
MI: We had many altercations with police. We stood our continued next page
greenkind magazineVol II, No 2 2007 5
