As history illustrates, every war claims innocent casualties, pawns in a
fight that are often spawned by government-vested interests.
Renée Bojé is a victim of the United States' War on Drugs -- a battle which
has escalated from the early 1980s to a $20 billion a year witch-hunt,
incarcerating more Americans than those charged with murder, rape, robbery
and aggravated assault combined, says Eugene Oscapella, director of the
Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy.
"The United States government has gone insane over drugs," says Oscapella.
The War on Drugs "has nothing to do with sensible public policies; it's
about witch-hunts and punishment."
So insane are the policies that a first-time offender caught with less than
one gram of cannabis could face up to five years in prison and/or a $250,000
fine. In Canada, a person charged with possession faces a maximum of six
months in jail and/or a fine of $1,000.
Canada's more relaxed attitude to marijuana was the main reason Bojé fled to
Vancouver in 1998, leaving her life -- and four drug-related charges of
cultivation of marijuana, intent to distribute, conspiracy and possession --
behind.
Bojé was in Ottawa last week speaking with a University of Ottawa
criminology class on drug policy issues and with local media.
"The United States' War on Drugs is really a war against their own people,"
says Bojé. "The U.S. spends $17 million a day building more prisons. There
is a marijuana arrest every 40 seconds... and one in six people in prison is
there for marijuana-related charges."
On July 29, 1997 Bojé was arrested while working as a technical illustrator
for marijuana activist Todd McCormick, who was
growing thousands of cannabis plants in his Bel Air, California mansion.
Under a three month old California state law that gave
patients and their primary caregivers the right to cultivate and use
cannabis for medicinal purposes, McCormick, who suffers from cancer, was
permitted to grow and smoke cannabis.
But the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), preoccupied with
stamping out the nation's undeniable drug problem, largely ignores the
individual laws of the nine states, all of which held referendums to
legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes.
In October 1997, the DEA dropped the charges against Bojé regarding her
alleged involvement in a drug ring, only to reinstate them a few months
later. Bojé packed a few belongings in May 1998 and left for Vancouver, B.C.
"I thought it was terrible being on the run because I couldn't start a
life," says Bojé. "I didn't know how long I was going to have to do this, or
how it would ever end."
It was only a few months later when the RCMP found Bojé at the Vancouver
Compassion Club. On Feb. 9, 1999 British Columbia Supreme Court Justice
Michael Catliff decided to surrender Bojé to the U.S. to face all four
counts. She was released on $5,000 bail and is currently residing in
Vancouver's Sunshine Coast area, waiting to see if Canadian Justice Minister
Anne McLellan will surrender her to the U.S. authorities on Monday, April
24.
Bojé has less than three weeks to gain the same "Canadian compassion" draft
dodgers garnered during the Vietnam War.
"My lawyer told me that if I get enough public support and media attention I
won't have to go back because Canadians will be (compassionate)," says Bojé,
whose campaign has already generated 1,000 letters to McLellan. Bojé says,
all else failing, she can appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of
Canada, a fight that would cost her $250,000 and buy her another year and a
half in Canada.
If Bojé's fight is successful, she believes Canada will be sending a clear
message that it believes U.S. drug policies are too harsh.
McLellan will be accepting letters until April 24. For more information or
to donate money visit Bojé's website at www.reneeboje.com.
