Jul 01, 2009 - 04:00 AM

By Jenna-Lee Mainse

OSHAWA -- What marijuana lovers hoped would be a quiet, informal gathering at Alexandra Park in Oshawa Wednesday, ended quickly with protestors saying Durham Regional Police ordered them to leave.

The small crowd of just over 20 people -- many of whom were dressed in pro-pot and anti-prohibition T-shirts -- made one quick lap around the City-owned park next to Lakeridge Health Oshawa before making its way to the office of Oshawa MP Colin Carrie in downtown Oshawa.

A dozen police officers, three cruisers and a prisoner transport vehicle stood by at the park. According to police spokesman Dave Selby, no charges were laid. He said police have no issue with people's right to assemble and protest, but were on site in this case because the group didn't have a permit to use the park.

"We decided that we were going to come out ... here in Oshawa," said Steven Bacon, who was given his permit to legally smoke medical marijuana in 1999. "But the Durham Regional Police decided they didn't want it to happen at all."

Protesters said police gave them 15 minutes to disperse or face arrest. The order prompted the crowd to move-on to Mr. Carrie's office doorstep.

"We negotiated in good faith to have a nice day out here and the MPs could have made that easier for us," Mr. Bacon said. "We wanted to make this the first annual weed protest in Oshawa."

The 55-year-old, who suffers from degenerative disc disease and irritable bowel syndrome, smokes medical marijuana to ease pain. But there would not have been a protest had it not been for a man who goes by the name B.C. Fudge, the event organizer.

Mr. Fudge says he organized the event, which was to be originally held at Lakeview Park, to raise awareness about the positive effects of cannabis use.

He used Facebook and YouTube to promote the protest but had, at one point, cancelled the event because of pressure from police to pull the plug.

"I know that a lot of people smoke cannabis at the park on [July 1] and they hide behind the bush, so this year we're not going to hide behind the bush."

Only two police officers questioned the protesters in front of the MP's office.

All people smoking pot were checked for government-issued permits allowing the use of medical marijuana.

The officers soon left and the protesters continued to smoke and hand out flyers.

Although the pot party-goers said they were furious that their right to a peaceful protest was being challenged, they admitted it was expected.

"I knew police were going to show up," Mr. Fudge said, who added he originally thought attendees would end up being arrested.

"We have the constitutional right to smoke free," Marko Ivancicevic, a protester and legal medical marijuana user, said. "And the unfortunate thing here is that we weren't given that right."

But Mr. Ivancicevic, who told protesters at Alexandra Park that it wasn't worth getting arrested, is happy police did not act on their warnings.

"I am thankful that they gave us enough respect not to arrest anybody right when we got there," Mr. Ivancicevic said. "I understand that the cops are just doing their job but as an activist I have a job to do also."

The protest outside of Mr. Carrie's office ended just before 6 p.m. and attendees dispersed quietly with the intent of returning again.

"We are going to do this again next year and we are going to do it properly and with permits next year," Mr. Bacon said as he puffed on a large joint with one hand and grasped a large zip-lock bag full of marijuana in the other.