[420 Girl]

Vancouver -Nanaimo will host its first Cannabis Convention at Vancouver Island University on Sunday but organizers say it is not a marijuana-smoking festival.

The convention is an educational and networking event with a heavy focus on medical marijuana issues, say organizers, who stress that people will be discouraged from smoking pot on campus.

VIU communications were not immediately available for comment on Tuesday but a spokeswoman said in an e-mail that the convention is a student-led and organized event. Police, who are also aware of the event and are working with VIU security, said they will attend if complaints occur.

The president of the VIU hempology 101 club, who did not want his name used for fear his children would suffer because of his activism, said the non-smoking event aims to help educate people, especially those who may be debating pot use for medical reasons. The campus club launched in September and has around 70 members.

"I don't want people to think it's a stoner event," said the club president, who is also a medical marijuana user.

"I hope people get some kind of awareness and change their minds. It's an incredible medical, incredible industrial product."

Similar events draw more than 100 people in Victoria, which celebrated its 11th annual cannabis convention.

Ted Smith, who teaches a Hempology 101 course and is the founder of the Cannabis Buyer's Club of Victoria, which provides pot to sick people, helped organize the Nanaimo convention and said it is part of a move to expand to other universities. The University of Victoria hemp club, the largest on its campus, holds weekly smoking sessions, said Smith.

"We're not a bunch of roving maniacs," said Smith on Tuesday.

"On one hand, the general public can come and learn what's happening. For an activist like myself, it's sort of like a magnet for people working in this field."

The list of planned speakers in Nanaimo include medical cannabis patients advocate Michelle Rainey; author Chris Bennet, who has penned connections between the use of cannabis and the Bible, Victoria policeman David Bratzer, who is also a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, and Smith.

Organizers say everyone with an open mind is welcome but the convention may be especially useful to medical marijuana users, politicians, doctors and people who work in law enforcement.

The cannabis convention at VIU is scheduled on Sunday, from noon until 4 p.m. in building 200, room 203. It is free and the public is welcome.

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