Longtime weed activist Dana Larsen was only on the second stop of his seed-bombing tour across Canada when Calgary police arrested him on trafficking charges Wednesday. Larsen had pledged to distribute one-million cannabis seeds for “ganja victory gardens” he encouraged folks to plant on public and private property.
His plans were soiled at a Days Inn motel, where the seed-spreading event was held. The 150 attendees present at the Overgrow Canada event snagged all the seeds, and when organizers sent a man to re-up at a van outside, he was “promptly taken into custody,” Canadian press reported.
With a bag of seeds in his hands, Larson stepped outside to scope out the scene and was arrested as well. It appears the van housing the seeds was another casualty of the bust. Cindy Heemeryck told CBC News Canada, "I am very upset about it, I am more upset about the van being confiscated with all our goods in there.”
"When I say goods, I mean packages of seeds people have ordered online,” she said. “Every chance we get to a mailbox, we throw tons and tons and tons in there.”
Larsen was caught with 118 grams of marijuana and more than 1,000 grams of seeds. On Thursday, Larsen wrote on Facebook that the campaign would not only continue, but double its seed giveaways as well.
"Due to overwhelming response and seed requests today, I am doubling the seed giveaway to 2 million seeds! Please come by the Pot-TV office for a volunteer seed-sorting party from 1-6pm. My assistant will be there to oversee and make sure volunteers all get some pot and pizza for helping out," he said
Larsen has described the seed-spreading as an act of civil disobedience to push the Canadian government to legalize weed. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government promised as much in their campaign for office, and a Canadian official said Wednesday that legalization could take root in Canada late 2017.
