Calgary

Pot activitist Dana Larsen's supporters rally in Calgary as he makes court appearance

Marijuana activitist Dana Larsen returned to Calgary on Wednesday for a brief court appearance as a crowd of his supporters staged a rally outside the courthouse and marched to city hall.

Marijunana advocate pledges to fight 'ludicrous' charges for handing out cannabis seeds

Pot activist Dana Larsen says Calgary was the only city on his cross-country tour where he was arrested and charged for handing out cannabis seeds. (Mark Matulis/CBC)

Marijuana activist Dana Larsen returned to Calgary on Wednesday for a brief court appearance as a crowd of his supporters staged a rally outside the courthouse and marched to city hall.

Larsen was arrested in early April for distributing pot seeds at an event and charged with trafficking marijuana and possession with intent to traffic.

Larsen says he is being persecuted and he will fight the charges.

"There will be no pleas. I won't be pleading guilty. We won't be taking any deals," he said.

"I want them to drop all the charges or we will continue to go the highest court that will hear our case. If they persist, I feel we'll get the law against cannabis seeds overturned."

He says he traveled on to 14 other Canadian cities giving away seeds and Calgary was the only place where police showed up.

He described his arrest as a waste of taxpayer money.

His next court appearance is set for June 10.

Roughly two dozen of Dana Larsen's supporters rallied outside the Calgary courthouse before marching to city hall. The pot activist is pushing for cannabis laws to change in Canada. (Meghan Grant/CBC)