FREEDOM TOUR 2007

Freedom Tour 2007

Anticipated schedule- these dates are just estimates, and and can be changed to accomodate if needed. We will spend at least 4 days in major centers and in some cases up to a week. Much is dependant on funds as we are still in need of sponsorships from earth friendly, freedom minded groups and individuals. JUNE 26 - VICTORIA, B.C - KICK OFF JULY 1- VANCOUVER, B.C JULY 30 - KELOWNA, B.C. AUGUST 1 - VERNON, B.C. AUGUST 18 - NELSON, B.C. AUGUST 24 - CRANBROOK, B.C. AUGUST 26 - CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER 9- MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN SEPTEMBER 10- REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN SEPTEMBER 21, WOWOTA, SASKATCHEWAN SEPTEMBER 20- BRANDON, MANITOBA SEPTEMBER 26- WINNIPEG, MANITOBA OCTOBER 6- KENORA, ONTARIO OCTOBER 14- DRYDEN, ONTARIO OCTOBER 15- THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO OCTOBER 25- MANITOULIN ISLAND, ONTARIO OCTOBER 31- TORONTO, ONTARIO NOVEMBER 8- MONTREAL, QUEBEC NOVEMBER 9- OTTAWA, ONTARIO NOVEMBER 11- REMEMBERANCE DAY CEREMONIES IN OTTAWA.

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Update December 23 / 2007

The 2007 Freedomtour is in the books. It was only possible because of hundreds of people who cared enough to help make it happen.The list is quite long and I'm for sure going to miss some who helped us, I hope you will forgive me (or bug me about it).

After an awesome (but sad) mullet cutting fund raising party at the VSB, Bert and I headed out to do the Vancouver island leg of the tour.
We were well looked after by Debra Harper in Victoria and Steve and Ammanda in Nanaimo.
It was great to stay with Dave and his family in Boston bar. A big thanks to Hugh Fagin in Kamloops and to Greg and Ingred in Kelowna.
Of course theres much thanks required for the "Vernon crew" B.J., Raeline and all the rest.
Jack Elliman, previously the manager of Hemp City was even more so than last year, An integeral part of the tour from Vernon all the way to Ottawa.
In Nelson the Freedomtour owes a big thank you to the gang at the Holy Smoke, Paul, Allen, Dustin et al.
A high five goes out to Kevin who escorted me to Cranbrook, to Joan and Greg who took care of me there and got me to Calgary.
In Calgary I was first put up by Kelly Christie (and his neighbor, Marty) and then taken in and looked after by Gerardo and Carlos.
Calgary is a crucial phase of the trip and their support was oh so important.
It was to Calgary that John Shavluck of the Green party sent his Green party of Canada pick up truck for us to use the rest of the way.
Thanks to Adam for helping to get it to me and helping Jack and I out until Regina.
Next up it was Tim Shortt in moose Jaw who graciously put up with us and saw to our needs.
In Regina it was J green who not just let us move in on him but supplied us with invaluable tradeables that helped put fuel in the truck.
We got the same level of support in Brandon from Jon and Lyndsay who were so awsome and thanks to Jordan Justice who let me stay acouple nights with him again this year.
Roman from the Wild Planet in Winnipeg gave us a room to stay in plus more. Also in The Peg we stayed with Johnny B. and Jack stayed a couple nights mwith Gavin and rebbecca.
It was in Winnipeg where we added Tarra Mann to our group. She is a passionate educated activist who was a big asset to have with us as we made our way to Ottawa.
In Kenora we stayed with Nate from the Sure Thing Hemp shop for a night as well as a night with Ren, they were both very appreciated.
WE also want to thank Katie for her hospitality in Dryden, Ontario.
Then it was off to thunder bay where our needs were more than met by Bryce and his family. It was here that Bluedragonfly gave us a huge boost to keep us heading east.
A Thanks bro to Brian for a night on Manatoulin Island.
A humble thank you goes out to the good folks at the Anishanabe spiritual center.
It was cool to meet and spend a couple of days with Kevin and Roch from best bong.ca in Barrie Ontario.
A huge hug and thank you to Puff Momma in Toronto for letting us move in on her.
We really enjoyed our much to short visit to Montreal and a big we love you to Boris St. Maurice for his support.
Thanks to Don and Nora in Ottawa for opening their home to us while there, as well as Evelyn and Seamus and Chelsea.
On the way home our thanks goes ut to Chantee for letting us sleep in her house in Espanola, to Bryce again in Thunder Bay. It was really cool to spend a night with Mort and Ellie in Kenora. Jack and I seperated after another cool night with Jon and Lyndsay in Brandon.
Then it was back for another night with J in Regina before hitting Calgary and staying with Keith and Debbie Fagin for two nights.
Without these places to stay the Freedomtour could not have succeeded.

Heres some more key people who were essential to the tours success (in no particular order);

My son, Dan
Mom and Dad
David Malmo Levine
The Royal Cannadian Legion
The Green Party of Canada
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (L.E.A.P.)
Tim (Head2Head in Regina)
Scott and Pauline 
Dori and Tim
Kara and Darryl
Tim Persons (Hemporium, Calgary)
Gabor Zimmer
Roxanne Murphy
Brian (Red Earth, Thunderbay)
Eric (Buzz) Woods
Rosie Rowbotham
Allison Myrden and Gary
Saturday boy (in T.O.)
Bob Verge 
Sooke and Chris Livingston
Mike (Crosstown Traffic, Ottawa)
Paul and Co. at the service centre in Espanola
Garry and Christa (Hempire, Canmore and Banff)
Chris in Kelowna ( Bulldog Papers)
Rev (Big) P
Dove
Guppy
Brandon and Riannon
Marc and Jodie (BCMP)
Pete and Jerry (in Regina)
Lisa and Skunk Magazine
Bob Hanson
Bob High
Jennifer (Grass Roots, Calgary)
Amfresh and Katie
Sports junkies (Vancouver)
J's "copy" friend (in Regina)

The Freedomtour was able to touch alot of people. We handed out apx. 1400 Freedomtour handouts, hundreds of DVD's (About Hemp, the NAU, the SPP and more. We also gave out a couple of hundred L.E.A.P. handouts, had conversations with Mayors, Police personel, media and a bevy of other concerned citizens.

There were many many more people that helped as well and here is a list of some of them;

Chris Bennet
Michelle Rainey and Jeff Tech
The Smoke Zone (in Nanaimo)
Marc Boyer
Mary Janes (Kelowna)
Ted Smith (Victoria)
Travis (Hemp store in Regina)
Greg brown (P.I.E.)
Still Eagle (Hemp Store, Nelson)
Kevin (Creative Factor, Calgary)
Fred (Next Level, Calgary)
Joe Kline (Moose Jaw)
Sterling Evans (Brandon U)
Candice (Brandon)
Chris Bours (The Peg)
My two sons ( Winnipeg)
Crystal (T-Bay)
Andrew Bashim (GreenParty)
Bill Vandergraff
Rainbow books and dvd's(T-Bay)
Chris Goodwin 
Marco Renda
Mr.Cookie 
Duanne (forbes resort)
Dan and Kevin (Espanola)
Donna (Calgary)
A. J., Missy, Reid, Owen and Adam (Herb School)
Heather B.
Danna Rebbecca (VSB)
Colleen and John
Layne Osterman
Bree
Green leaf seeds
Anne Livingstone Joan Rousso
Nordin
Bob (Kelowna)
White River A&W
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Davin Christianson
Don and Carol
Ellis(Geekiator)

I know there are others who contributed to what was another great year of bringing awarness to the Freedomtours issues.

Thanks again to all who made the tour possible.

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Update November 11 / 2007 - Ottawa

It was a nice sunny day in Ottawa for Remembrance day although fairly cold. I was lucky to be able to stay in the inner area with the veterans, in that I was able to join Sandy, a member of Canada's sikh community, in the laying of a wreath during the proceedings. I had initially been told that there would not be room for us due to the amount of people who wanted to be included, so assisting Sandy allowed me to actually occupy the same spot as I had last year and to take part in the wreath laying cerimony.

Steven Harper did not get to shake my hand this year but we were in close proximity to each other several times and exchanged some nods and eye contact.

I was hoping to be able to have a moment with him, at which time I would have told him that Canadians want him to end the war on drugs and to find a way to regulate the distribution of substances so as to stop making gangs rich and endangering our citizens and police.

I did manage to have a similar conversation with a veteran Ottawa police officer who agreed and understood, telling me he was well aware that prohibition does not get drugs off the street, it only creates a lucrative black market and that harsher penalties will just make dealers more desparate and dangerous. He gladly took my L.E.A.P handout and agreed to check out the web site.

I also met Stephan Dion to whom I gave a handout and breifly explained the Freedomtour. He shook my hand and wished me luck with the future Freedomtours. Jack and Tarra were able to film from the sidelines and they handed out many of the DVD's .

I did a short interveiw with the CBC and gave the Freedomtour handouts to other media representatives as well as to an aide to the new civillian head of the Rcmp, and had several chats with other people who also got handouts.

Tomorrow we are going to tour the parliment buildings and visit the media before heading back home. All in all it was a memorable and successfull day.

Neil Magnuson and the Freedomtour team,
freedomtour.ca
leap.cc

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Update November 9 / 2007 - Ottawa

We are now in Ottawa preparing for Remembrance day on Sunday.

We have been taken in by Don and Nora who have been very kind in making us feel at home.

We touched base with some of the media today, CBC,CTV, the Ottawa Citizen and a couple of radio stations are all aware that we're here and have been given our handouts. We spent the evening at a forum at Ottawa university discussing the oppression experienced by some students, especially women and minorities in schools, where we got to meet some Ottawa activists. It was a very interesting night.

We also visited Crosstown Traffic and their new location on the west side which is scheduled to be open in about a week. A big thanks to Mike for his support both this year and last year.

Please take some time to think about the efforts of our forefathers who fought for our freedoms-lest we forget.

Neil Magnuson and the Freedomtour team
freedomtour.ca
leap.cc

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Update November 8 / 2007 - Montreal

We took a quick trip to Montreal and were very generously looked after by Boris St.Maurice. He looked after our accommodations and took us out for dinner. He also gave us a tour of his compassion club and introduced us around.

We also dropped in on Skunk magazine and had a nice visit with Lisa. We then went to old Montreal and met a Canadian vetran who was decorated with 7 purple hearts for his service to our country. He brought me to tears as he explained that his motives for going to war were to secure the freedoms of the generations to come so that we would be able to speak up about what's not right without fearing our "public servants".

He said most people are "soft" and needed hardened soldiers to fight for their freedoms. This man and those like him are true heroes in my books.

The Freedomtour supports the legions of brave men and women who were willing to lay down their lives for the freedoms of the generations to come.

Neil Magnuson and the Freedomtour team,

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Update November 5 / 2007 - Toronto

It's our final night in T.O. and it was a great cap to an awsome time here where I got to meet so many awsome people.Tonight,after being interviewed at the Kindred cafe by Avi and Eric Woods for a podcast,we went to a forum on prohibition where Allan young was speaking.It was such an honor to meet and chat with Allen and his wife Laura, both are very articulate and passionate activists.

We also visited with Eric the night before at his cannabis compassion club.We were very impressed with the work Eric is doing and he was very generous in supporting the Freedomtour.

It was also great to meet Dom from T.H.C, Marco from Treating yourself magazine and our visit with Rosy Rowbotham was a highpoint.We did manage to speak with a number of Toronto police officers, almost all of whom took our L.E.A.P. handouts gladly and agreed with most of our concerns about prohibition and governments abuses of power.

We will drop by the hot box cafe on our way out of town tomorrow as we pay a visit to Montreal on our way to Ottawa for Remembrance day.

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Update October 31 / 2007 - Toronto

It was an amazing experience and such an honour to visit with Allison and Gary, their passion in the face of adversity is truly inspirational.

We are having an amazing time here,thanks so much to Puff Momma for all she is doing for us. It's been great to meet some of the activists here and to see the city.We are looking forward to meeting many more in the days to come.

We will be hosting a mini film festival showing the dvd's we've been handing out across Canada at Vapour central all day Friday. Please come and say hello and get a handout.

Wishing everyone a safe but scary hallows eve.

Neil Magnuson and the Freedomtour team.

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Update October 25 / 2007 - Manitoulin

Upon arriving on Manitoulin Isl. and being met by our contact there, we were detained and checked out by the police.They were friendly enough and accepted our L.E.A.P. info and let us be on our way. However the next morning our host and his mother were approached by some police in the local market who questioned his mother about us in a way that caused her to ask that we leave. Our host also explained that Manitoulin was a very conservative place that only begrudgingly accepts outsiders.

So we left what was to be our place and time of solitude and relaxation to find some place else to prepare for our work in Toronto and Ottawa.

The first night we stayed outside on an empty resort property that was closed for the season, half way between Manitoulin and Espanola, I slept on a rock cliff under the stars, Jack in his tent, overlooking a most amazing island filled bay. It was truly my best ever outdoor sleeping experience.

The next day we discovered a spiritual centre where we were invited to stay in the fully decked out lodge (although there was no internet) which included a full commercial kitchen, big screen t.v. with an up to date selection of movies, a chapel, a library and our choice of boats and canoes to use on the lake.we stayed for three days and nights before continuing our journey and we are so thankful for what was a very re-energizing time.

We have made our way to Barrie where we have been taken in and treated again as if we were life long friends of Kevin of bestbong.ca.

On our way we stopped in Sudbury and had a nice chat with the mayor, He seems to be a very nice and reasonable man, many of the the people in Sudbury who we met consider themselves lucky to have him. He understood and agreed with our goals and wished us luck on our journey.

We also have spoken with several police officers in the last couple of days, all have been friendly and supportive with the exception of one OPP officer who, even after discussing the problems with prohibition and the obvious hypocrisy of criminalizing non criminal behavior, he said he agreed with the prohibition. He did take my L.E.A.P. handout and said he would check out the site.

Neil Magnuson and the Freedomtour team,
freedomtour.ca
leap.cc

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Update October 19 / 2007 - Thunderbay

A final goodbye to Thunder bay, Bryce was an awesome host who took us in and made us feel at home and then some.Thanks to Kevin for having us on his radio show. We did meet up with a representative of the Green party who was very happy to meet us and with whom we exchanged some good info. A big thankyou to Al and Bonnie, exex.'s with the port Aurther #5 legion for their warmth and support for our journey. Neil Magnuson and the Freedomtour team,

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Update October 15 / 2007 - Thunderbay

We are now in Thunderbay and again we are being taken in as family. Bryce is a most awesome host and guide as he has helped us navigate from place to place. We have touched base with the media and will be doing some interviews over the next few days.

We had a great chat with a fire chief who said there is almost 0 "grow-op" fires or "meth-labs" that he can remember them ever dealing with, although there have been some busts over the years that he knows of. He was however very aware of the costs and dangers of drug prohibition overall, as well as the loss of our rights and freedoms.

We were quite disappointed with the chief of police here, when he was given our L.E.A.P. handout and asked for a few minutes to discuss the issues, he said he was not interested and would not see us. We are told that the Thunderbay police can be pretty hardcore. Looks like it might start at the top.

We stopped in at a local shop that specializes in hemp products and learned that they get they're hemp textiles from Romania because then it only has to travel half way around the world to get here, instead of hemp grown in Canada that has to travel half way around the world to be made into clothing etc. and then it has to travel all the way back here to be sold. Which is a good reason why we should be encouraging ways to process the raw hemp here in Canada ourselves.

There is so much opportunity to design better equipment to cultivate raw hemp as well as better ways to make use of the whole plant. With some good old Canadian ingenuity those seeds which produce more usable bio-mass per acre by far than any other crop would be the ticket to a very prosperous future.

The only thing holding us back is the prohibition of cannabis which is the root of the bureaucratic problems with trying to be in the hemp business. All because ( according to Health Canada) of the fear that there could be some "unacceptable" levels of "thc". We need to scrap the whole thing and re-think it, because the truth is it always was just a "smoke" screen to serve the interests of those who stood to benefit from not having to compete against Mother natures best gift to us.

Hemp was so valuable to our forefathers that it was a mandatory crop in the U.S.A. from 1619-1798 and again to assist the war effort from 1942-1945 ( a campaign called "Hemp for victory") during which time through selective breeding they managed to develop some strains of cannabis that contained very little "thc" which is what we refer to as industrial hemp today.

October 16 update:
We had very long and interesting talks today with both an R.C.M.P. officer at a local detachment and with Bonnie, a rep with the city. They were both moved by what we told them and agreed to forward the information. They also both agreed that the fed's were being very disrespectful in continuing to impose drug prohibition on the munincipalities and the police forces.

An absolute waste of money and resources thats endangering the public and making thugs rich. We also spent some time today at Federation collage, talking with some of the students about what the meaning of freedom is and what the role of public servants should be.
The weather has turned cold and wet but the people here are warm and friendly and its great to have Bryce as our guide. We will for sure miss T-bay as we head east. Both Jack and I have come to feel at home here.

A final goodbye to Thunder bay, Bryce was an awesome host who took us in and made us feel at home and then some.Thanks to Kevin for having us on his radio show.We did meet up with a representative of the Green party who was very happy to meet us and with whom we exchanged some good info.A big thankyou to Al and Bonnie, exex.'s with the port Aurther #5 legion for their warmth and support for our journey.

The Freedomtour team, freedomtour.ca leap.cc

Neil Magnuson and the Freedomtour team,
freedomtour.ca
leap.cc
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The Freedomtour belongs to everyone

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Update October 14 / 2007 - Dryden

Skating on the hwy. towards Thunderbay was fabulous. I am very inspired by all the honks and waves in support of the Freedomtour.

We stopped in Dryden for a late dinner and were invited to spend the night at Katie the waitresses house. She was a generous host and made us feel at home and the next morning helped us find the police station and the city hall.

At the police station we had one of the longest and most informative conversations to date with a law enforcement officer. It was quite apparent that he was impacted by what we had to say. He also informed us about the enforcement and dynamics of cannabis prohibition. He showed us in the criminal code that possesion of less than 30 grams is not a criminal offence, but a summery conviction with no fingerprints taken and no criminal record, although it carries a possible fine of up to $1000 or a maximum of 6 mths in jail. This seems to mean that the well over 1.5 million Candians who have a criminal record for cannabis possesion had more than 30 grams at the time of arrest.

So how many more Canadians have been affected negatively by these laws we wonder. We also have found out that some municiple governments are issuing fines on there own without going thru the federal justice system.

The penalizing of people for cannabis offences is done more than for any other "crime" in Canada, much against the will of the people and in reality to support and protect corporate interests. We informed him of the recent ruling handed down in an Ont. courtroom on July 13th that has again deemed the prohibition of cannabis to be unconstitutional re: the Parker decision in 2003.We suggested he just say (K)no(w)to enforcing prohibition laws. The officer gladly took our L.E.A.P. handout and wished us good luck on the rest of our journey.Next up is Thunderbay and at this point the weather is great.

Neil Magnuson and the Freedomtour team,
freedomtour.ca
leap.cc
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The Freedomtour belongs to everyone

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Update October 12 / 2007 - Kenora

We had a very nice time in Kenora it is a very beautiful and peaceful place.

We had a good time visiting the local legion hall and were warmly received by the people there and had a very friendly discussion of the issues. Most Canadians support our troops but don't like the nature of the current mission and would like our troops to be brought home.

We visited both the kenora police station and an O.P.P. detachment and our message was warmly received at both places.We also had a nice chat at City hall with the people there who were also in agreement with us about the disrespect being shown towards municipality's by the federal government by imposing drug prohibition on them and all the problems prohibition causes them in there community.

We did a great interview with the local newspaper right in the campaign offices of the local conservative candidate during election night and followed up with the reporter the next day at the newspaper offices.

We had a nice sit down meeting with Roger Valley the local M.P and gave our handouts to dozens of other local people.

Thanks to the "Sure Thing" store for supporting us on our journey and to the other friends we made during our visit we will be looking forward to returning next year.

Neil Magnuson and the Freedomtour team,
freedomtour.ca
leap.cc

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Update October 7 / 2007 - Winnipeg

Except for the serious lack of computer time we have had a very productive stay in Winnipeg. The weather has been great as well as the people. We have been treated as family by the friends from last year, Chris Bours, Johnny, Marcie and rebecca from the Hemp Rock Cafe, the My Two Sons store and especially Roman from the Wild Planet who gave us a room in his building to use for the time we were there. We have also made many new friends who have supported our cause and shared alot of their knowledge and wisdom with us.

We had a nice visit at the local legion, chatting with the people there about the freedoms we deserve, the efforts of the past generations to fight for freedoms and the disrespect that is shown for those efforts by our governments. We had a good talk with some of the firemen at a local hall who agreed that the situation with prohibition is putting them at risk. Prohibion causes grow-ops and sometimes they can be dangerous.

There were no police personel who disagreed with us that we could find, of the many we talked to here although a couple of them would not take our L.E.A.P handouts. We met with an assistant of the Mayor who was very supportive and understanding. He said he would forward our info to the mayor and try to get us an appointment with the mayor but in the end he called and said a meeting would take a written request and a few weeks notice. We also met Andrew Bashim a candidate for the prov. Green Party with whom we exchanged info.

We spent sometime discussing the issues at Red River Collage, spent some time in some fields of hemp that were over 9 feet high, visited the folks at Manitoba Harvest ( a great hemp based co.) and spent some time checking out a medical cannabis garden.

We had touched base with nearly all the media outlets without much success other than a nice recurring clip (Apx, 45sec long) that played several times on 102 City FM. We extended our stay longer than planned so as to take in the CFL game bettween the B.C. Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers! (with tickets provided free by the bomber org.)

This meant we were in town for Steven Harpers surprise visit and vicious anouncement about increasing spending on that most failed and counter-productive war on individual freedoms that is the war on drugs. Drug prohibition does not get drugs off the streets, it increases demand while supporting a very dangerous black market. We did not get to see Steven Harper but we were there where he was speaking and did several interveiws with the assembled media and got the message out, that polliticians who are in favor of drug prohibition support organized crime.

One of the highlights for us was an extensive interveiw that we did with a retired Manitoba police veteran who has been charged with cultivation. He clearly lays out the damage that drug prohibitin has done to his life and the hypocracy and this culture of corruption that has resulted from it. We look fondly back at the kindness of the people of Winnipeg that we met and will be happy to return again next year but for now we're back on the road and heading east armed with even more info and insights to pass on to others along the way.

Please help us if you can, and if you've thought of a way that we could be more affective then please contact us or "become the change you wish to see".

Neil Magnuson and the Freedomtour team,freedomtour.caleap.cc

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Update September 24 / 2007 - Brandon

We've been in Brandon Manitoba for the last few days and have visited our regular targets.I reconnected with a history prof at Brandon university whom I met last year. He was very helpful with some info on the history of hemp. I had a talk with the local Conservative mp and told him how I'm going from town to town and blaming the federal government for the mess of drug prohibition. That drug prohibition does'nt keep drugs off the street or out of the hands of our children. That it is putting our police officers in danger, costing our economy billions of dollars and that harsher penalties will just mean more dangerous drug dealers. I pleaded with him to do his part to end this madness and he said he understood and would do what he could.

We took a short drive to Souris to experience another hemp field. It was pretty cool. It was being grown for seed, was 4-6' tall and had been left in the field a few days too long, meaning it was too dry and they lost a lot of the seeds when combining it. We interviewed the driver of the combine who told us about some of the problems they have dealing with the health Canada restrictions and requirements. The whole deal is archaic and senseless. We could be a very wealthy country if we let our farmers grow all the hemp they can and opted out of the U.N. treaty B.S. We were able to do a long interview with the Brandon sun who did a nice article on the Freedomtour last year. We also visited the local legion, the mayors office, the Brandon police station and several other places including handing out our info at a farmers market.We did find there to be an overall unhappiness with government from local to federal as well as a general fear of the police.

We were well treated here in Brandon and want to send out a big thanks to all the local people who were so friendly and accomadating. Especially Jordan for the place to stay as well as Candice and her crew from the B.O.B.hq for the pot luck dinner party. We've again been made to feel like family and will be sad to leave, but leave we must as we head east toward Winnipeg in the morning.

The Freedomtour crew,
freedomtour.ca
leap.cc

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Update September 21 / 2007 - Wowota

We took a side trip to Wowota Sask. to try and help sort out the controversy about the "Kieran King" incident. Apparently after researching the medical side of cannabis and finding out about its uses, he was telling his fellow students about it when he was shut down and penalized by the school officials. There seemed to be a lot of confusion and apprehension surrounding the subject by the people in the town so we went to the school and had a long chat with Josh, the "vice"principle and a nice lady named Marlene. They certainly understood a lot more about the whole prohibition issue before we left and thanked us heartily for coming.

We talked briefly with a couple of townsfolk with some success but were aware of an aura of resistance. It was when we were eating at a local diner that we got to experience the "attitude of the "elders".

A very stern grandmother said that keiran was wrong to talk about things the way he did and that it scared her little grand daughter and other children(Jack very nicely assured the little girl that she need'nt be afraid).

She went on to say that they did not want any more talk like that to happen again in their town. We did the best we could to shine a light of truth into there darkness but the media fear campaigns that demonized natures medicines to promote corporate interests has done its job in Wowota.

freedomtour.ca leap.cc

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Update September 18 / 2007 - Regina

As we look back on Regina we have many fond memories. all the people we met were very friendly and supportive. We made several new friends and we are sad to be leaving.

My meeting with Andrew the local conservative mp was certainly a highlight. By the end of our meeting he said he was 80% in agreement with me and was struggling to come to terms with the other 20%. He claimed to be a libertarian but in my opinion he is mostly not. I told him that I'm blaming the Federal govt for the drug prohibition mess and if they grew a spine, stood up to the U.S. and shifted the blame on to them, they would be seen as hero's.

We also got into hear "dog the bounty hunter" speak and were very disgusted by what we heard.He is one of the biggest hypocrites I've witnessed and he thinks parents should turn their children in to the criminal justice system if they suspect that they are using drugs and the children will thank them in the end.

Some might but the majority will be harmed and scarred for life. He is a sad, pathetic, guilt ridden hypocrite who we heckled from the front row. At one point he told Adam to "shut up" that he owned the stage. At the end he apologized to us,said it had been "the best night of his entire night "(lol)and said goodbye to Regina with his arms outstretched and holding up two pages from our Freedomtour handouts. Afterwards we held an info session in the parking lot rebuffing what he had said, receiving much support from the crowd exiting the arena.

We held several info sessions at Victoria park during our stay one day even holding a freedom rally c/w contests and giveaways.

Had a nice visit with Tim from head to head and Darren from the hydro shop. Also enjoyed our visit with Travis who runs the hemp store. He is a good activist who is working on the hemp side.

We had a great night of reggae music and dancing, ate some good food, had some cool conversations and learned some interesting things. All in all we had an awesome time in Regina. Thanks so much to J for being such an awesome host.

The Freedomtour team
freedomtour.ca
leap.cc

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Update September 15 / 2007 - Regina

The "free amigo's" are having quite a time of it in Regina. We had a very good discussion with the Mayor, Pat Fiaco who was very supportive and understanding.He was very pleased that we came to see him, agreed to lobby the feds to end drug prohibition and wished us well on our journey. We then went to the Regina police station and chatted with a sgt. named Scott who was also on side with our efforts and agreed to check out the LEAP web site(leap.cc).We have encountered several Regina police officers, they have all been friendly, willing to listen and agreeable with our goals.They have all taken our LEAP handouts without any resistance.

I did an interveiw (by phone) with a local radio station (the Wolf) and just like last year (on Jack fm) the aired interview was edited which made me sound contraversial, they cut me off after saying we should legalize all drugs without the rest of the explanation. this resulted in some less than flattering calls into the show (as well as some in support)so we went in to the radio station and met with the on-air host(Chad) in person. He seeemed to like us and once he really understood our whole possition, said he would try and help our cause in the future and he gave me his personal cell #. We also held a spontaneous rally in Victoria park yesterday which could only be described as a success, with many people being given our handouts.(Thanks to a local printer named Leon who provided us with a few hundred copies for almost no cost!)

All in all we are enjoying our time here, finding almost total support for our cause and being well looked after by Jason and the Regina crew.

The Freedomtour team,
freedomtour.ca
leap.cc

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Update September 12 / 2007 - Moose Jaw

We really appreciated our time in Moose Jaw, Tim who runs Ponds and Ponics along with Whatchtower glass (at 420 high st.) made our stay very comfortable. His generosity and support have left us with fond memory's of Moose Jaw and we look forward to being back next year.

While in Moose Jaw we visited the police station and Jack and I had a great conversation with a sgt. named Sean.who agreed with our goals, wished us all the best and was highly motivated to discuss these matters with his coleagues.

Jack and I also had a very long and prioductive sit down meeting with the Mayor.

We were made to feel welcome by all the people we met and recieved lots of honks and waves as we skated and biked out of town.

Neil and the Freedomtour team,
freedomtour.ca
leap.cc

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Update September 9 / 2007 - Calgary

Sadly, we have now left Calgary to head east, a big thanks to Tim and the staff at Hemporium, I was made to feel like a part of their family and allowed to use the store as a base like I did on last years tour.

I really enjoyed my time in Calgary,had some good conversations with Kelly who provided me with a place to stay for the first couple of nights. It was great to spend some time with Keith and Debbie Fagin, I enjoyed the bbq's with Debra Harper and her family as well as the with Donna and her family.

My hosts, Carlos, who drove me around whenever I needed it and Gerardo who opened up his home to me for the rest of my stay were terrific. The two of them also paid for many of my meals. I gave out nearly a hundred of the Freedomtour handouts, met with dozens of Calgarians and all in all had a very productive stay.

A final tip of the hat goes to Jenn from Grassroots, Fred from the Next Level, Bill from Bongs and Such and all the rest of the fine Canadians whom I encountered who support the Freedomtours goals.

On Thursday night I was joined by Jack Elliman of the Okanagan awareness movement (also the manager of Hemp city in Vernon), along with Adam smolic of the Marijuana awareness initiative in a p/u truck provided by John Shavluk of the Green party.

The three of us (the free amigos) have now made our way to Moose Jaw where we are being taken care of by Tim Shortt of Ponds and Ponics.(sometimes Known as Biotech ) We held an information session at a local park yesterday where I did an interview with a newspaper reporter.

I am very enthused about having Jack and Adam join the Freedomtour it is amazing the work that can be done with 3 motivated, creative and energenic activists.

Neil Magnuson and the Freedomtour team,
freedomtour.ca
leap.cc

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Update August 31 / 2007 - Calgary

Had a good day here in Calgary yesterday. I went to City hall and was skating in the hallway when a sort of grumpy old security guard, named Bill, told me that there was no skates allowed. I talked to him about the reason for rules and the role we expect out of our paid public servants,that I was not interfering in any way with anyone and was being a responsible adult, that I respected him just not the way he was being asked to enforce the rules. we quickly became friends (he said he'd just been having a bad day )and he asked if I had an appointment with the mayor. I told him I did not. He told me I could not even get into the main office without an appointment. I then explained that I had a friend who could help me, him. He laughed and led me in where I met one of the mayors assistance named Sharon I was told that the mayor was not in. (I had been told that on the way in by a guy I met from the C.B.C. as well). I explained the Freedomtours goals to Sharon and gave her my handouts. I then said that I should find the closest exit to leave thru so as not to upset security, but Bill piped up with "thats o.k.you can skate where ever you like in here."lol

I then headed for the police station where when crossing the street against the light I was stopped by a Calgary police officer who scolded me for not waiting for the green light,I explained that there were no cars in sight but he rudely asks me if I wanted a ticket (pretty dumb question),I said "no".

He said "well then don't do it again"

I thanked him for the warning and continued on, but I think should have not been so intimidated. In the police station I had to leave my leap info and phone # with the desk guy, who assured me he would pass it on.

Then I sparked up a conversation about the goals of leap with another officer when a 3rd officer interrupted and said "I'd like to sit down and have a long talk with you about "our" perspective, marijuana is a gateway drug for teenagers". but when I tried to say that prohibition only increases the demand and use, he kept interrupting saying "I don't have time to talk right now" I kept trying to explain that if adults are using cannabis responsibly they are not "criminals" and that if cannabis use led to hard drug addictions we'd have a lot more hard drug addicted adults, but he kept repeating over me "I don't have time to talk to you" more and more rudely while he stood there.so I left.

I have now met briefly with most of the media here and will do some interviews before I leave.

freedomtour.ca
leap.cc
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Freedom, like the Freedomtour, belongs to everyone.
Do your part today

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Update August 26 / 2007 - Calgary

After an amazing journey through the Rocky mountains of Banff and Canmore (and a couple of cold nights in the tent),the Freedomtour has arrived in Calgary. Thanks to the huge number of people who honk and wave in support as we pass by.Also the 100% of people who we talk to about our goals who agree with our mission and ideals.(There is still apx. 5 to 10 % of law enforcment personel who say they are not in full agreement) At this point it seems "everyone" at least partially understands the wrongness of the present system. Our goal is to make sure the masses know the whole story, make sure the "evil empire" knows we all know and to make sure the "evil empire" knows we know and that we know that they know that we know. Maybe then they will have to end the madness and give us freedom c/w limited, accountable, transparent and friendly "public servants"

We will now spend the next several days in Calgary spreading our message of what freedom is, what the role of "public servants" is suposed to be, the costs and dangers of drug prohibition and what the economic, enviromental, and nutritional value of hemp is.

Neil Magnuson and the Freedomtour team,
freedomtour.ca
leap.cc

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Update August 24 / 2007 - Cranbrook

The Freedomtour has made its way to Cranbrook.I was kind of sad to leave Nelson as it is a place with lots of free thinking love based people.I must thank Nick at the Still Eagle hemp shop in Nelson for supporting the cause by giving me 4 pairs of high quality hemp socks and an awesome hemp hoodie.

The pavement most of the way from Nelson to Cranbrook was hell but the scenery was fantastic. I was escorted there by a fellow I met in Nelson named Kevin who is also active in trying to make positive changes in our world. He thinks we could solve most all of our problems if everyone would pick a cause and work on solving it.

His cause is the adding of floride(a drug)into some communities drinking water under the premise that it helps prevent tooth decay.According to Kevins reserch it does only a small amount of good while causing dental florosis in young teething infants which results in pitting and staining of the teeth as well as some other health concerns. He says it's a scam where we pay to dump this toxic by-product of industry into our water which saves them from an expensive process of safely disposing of it.

In any case they add it to our water without our permission(Although local counsels approve it) and in most cases without the publics knowledge.It is in Cranbrook's water and none of the dozen or so local residents I asked knew about it.

It was cool to see Kevin talk about his concerns at city hall while I was there talking about mine.We were quite a persuasive team. He is now inspired to take his concerns on the road in his own version of a freedom (from floridation)tour.He is also currently involved in sueing the govt. to try and stop them.He has also inspired and educated me.

I have also spoken with the local RCMP about leap and to the local firefighters about lobbying the feds to end prohibition to reduce the risk to firemen and women as it is prohibition that causes "grow-ops".

I'm staying with the "family" that I stayed with last year in Cranbrook and am being very well looked after.They will be escorting me to Calgary, leaving later today.

Have not yet confirmed any contacts in Calgary and would welcome any assistance from people there so please contact me if you can help.

Neil Magnuson

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Update August 18 / 2007 - Nelson