From Iceland — Cannabis Rights Activist To Smoke At Public Buildings

Cannabis Rights Activist To Smoke At Public Buildings

Published July 26, 2012

An activist calling for the reformation of marijuana laws intends to go on a hunger strike and smoke cannabis in front of the police station, among other things.
The activist in question, Örvar Geir Geirsson, is a spokesperson for RVK Homegrown, a group who last appeared in Grapevine when they organised a “smoke-out” in front of parliament last April. Among the points of their platform is the call for the law to differentiate between “hard” and “soft” drugs, to allow people to grow up to five cannabis plants for personal use, and to allow Icelanders to buy cannabinoid medication from Holland with a doctor’s permission. They contend that such measures, among others, would ease the court and penal system, and leave behind the “zero tolerance” policy adopted by other countries.
DV now reports that Örvar is ready to take matters a step further.
On August 1, he intends to begin a ten-day hunger strike, drinking water and eating only hemp seeds. He also intends to smoke 1/3 gramme of marijuana in front of a number of public institutions, starting with the police station. There, he will hand out to journalists the list of the other public buildings he intends to smoke marijuana in front of, choosing a different location each day. Örvar said he will most likely choose the residence of the president, Bessastaðir, as the final location.
Örvar has already begun preparations for the protest, eating nothing but fruit as he readies his body for fasting. Whichever public buildings he ultimately chooses, Örvar says his decision will be based on choosing institutions “which affect these rights, the freedom of the individual and this law, concerning cannabis.”

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