Nathan Phillips Square was given over to something a bit spicier that its usual mainstream summertime lineup events this past Sunday, when supporters of the local chapter of NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) took it over for a chaotic and loud afternoon rally.
It featured an appearance by the head of the fledgling Freedom Party of Ontario, Robert Metz, who called for a decriminalization of marijuana on the grounds that the anti-soft drug, police-political complex does more good than harm to one of its key targets, major dealers.
"They've basically got a government-protected monopoly, and they operate with tax-free status, as most criminals do," Metz says. "The only risk they run is getting caught, and it's not a very big one."
Given the event's timing, the audience Metz made his pitch to was predominately a tie-dye and headband-adomed crowd of the converted, but NORML spokesperson Umberto Iorfida says the scheduling wasn't planned to avoid a show- down with the potentially less receptive office-worker sorts who fill the square on weekdays.
"We chose Sunday because it's the only day our supporters could make it here. Come on, what do you think? They don't have day jobs, too?"
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last updated on April 28, 2002
