Thursday, June 9nd, 2005

by the Writer's Guild of Wunderland

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On the anniversary of D-Day, once a landmark day in the history of Freedom, the Supreme Court said it's OK for the federal government to ignore state laws and arrest and imprison sick people who use marijuana for medical reasons on their doctors' recommendations.

And with that ruling, we've gotten to our final straw. Being acknowledged pot-smokers with genuine medical need (for Kristin's migraines), we do not have freedom, and it's clear we won't find justice, here in the United States of America. So, we're going to move to Canada, at least for a while.

We'd been holding out hope that the Supreme Court would save our country from the nightmare of marijuana prohibition, but now that they've dashed that hope, we know the time has come for us to go. For legalization activists, the only approach left is to convince Congress to grant us freedom, and obviously that's not going to happen for a really long time.

Instead of supporting medical marijuana patients, Congress has already voted against the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment, and now, they are actively considering putting people in jail -- for a minimum of 2 years! -- for failing to snitch on friends and family who sell pot.

So, we're hoping to get out while the getting is still good.

Unfortunately, it's going to be awhile yet before we actually go. We're pack-rats with a lot of stuff, and even though I've packed numerous boxes, it still feels like I've barely begun. (The packing assistant job has not yet been filled, since I haven't had a chance yet to interview any of the applicants I've gotten so far... I'm hoping to choose someone who can start just after we return from Origins.) But with every box I fill, we get a little bit closer to leaving, and eventually, we'll be ready to go.

As for where in Canada we will go, that's a topic we've been debating for months. Our latest top choice is Montreal, but we've already made up our minds and changed them a couple of times at this point, so who knows where we'll really end up. We're going to Montreal next month to check it out...

Meanwhile, we need to start filing immigration paperwork and asking Canada if they'll let us in. Does anyone know a good immigration lawyer, ideally someone with small business experience? The Sales/Business office of Looney Labs will remain in College Park MD, and our Warehousing/Fulfillment center is staying in Lorton VA, it's just the Creative team's office that we're planning on moving. We're going to open a Canadian office of Looney Labs, and move our family there to set it up and run it. How hard can it be? I'm sure Kristin will figure it out... :)