Marilyn Holsten

(本報記者鄭一峰)卑詩大麻黨黨領埃默里（Marc Emery）夫婦，周三到溫東一所非牟利機構的長者柏文外面示威，要為一個因為吸食大麻而被迫遷的已故住客霍爾斯坦（Marilyn Holsten），討回公道。霍爾斯坦生前居住在溫東8街（8th Ave.）951號，由Anavets Senior Citizens’Housing Society管理的一幢柏文單位。今年8月，她因心臟病發逝世。埃默里懷疑霍爾斯坦是因為在柏文寓所不許吸大麻紓緩痛楚，而引致心臟病發。埃默里表示，霍爾斯坦失去了兩腿，右眼又失明，由於父親的關係，才能入住該長者柏文。霍爾斯坦得到醫生准許，可以吸食大麻來減輕痛楚。但管理員不喜歡大麻的氣味，而向她發出搬遷令。埃默里指出，他已經給了霍爾斯坦一個減低氣味的機器，所以管理員不能對她作出控告。埃默里希望管理柏文的協會為死者及家人，作出道歉。

For English readers, these symbols 大(great) 麻(hemp) mean marijuana when combined like so 大麻

Jeremiah Vandermeer - Cannabis Culture

Vancouver activists held a protest yesterday in memory of Marilyn Holsten, a diabetic double-amputee who died from a heart attack shortly after she was given an eviction notice by her landlord for using medical marijuana.

“It’s incredibly inhumane that anyone could treat someone like that in this country that we call civilized,” Marilyn’s sister Moira O’Neill told Cannabis Culture and other media attending the memorial protest. “I’m hurt over my sister’s treatment and incredibly anguished over how she had to spend the last few days.”

Nearly one-hundred people attended the solemn event, including NDP MP Libby Davies and marijuana activist (and CC publisher) Marc Emery, to call for an end to the mistreatment of medical marijuana users like Marilyn. Read more »

Anthony Papa
Communications specialist for the Drug Policy Alliance

When we talk about who has the best slum landlord stories we now have to mention this tragic case.

Marilyn Holsten was 49 years old and in frail health, suffering from diabetes. She'd had both legs amputated, was almost blind, and received dialysis six hours a day. She lived for eight years at Anavets Senior Citizens Housing Society building at 951 8th Ave E, Vancouver Canada.

Marilyn's landlord did not like the smell of marijuana, so he gave her an eviction notice. She became very distraught and as a result her health deteriorated rapidly. Eventually, she died of a heart attack this August. Her sister, Moira O'Neil, said Marilyn's last days on Earth were a living hell. Read more »

The Protest-Memorial went well, a Member of Parliament, along with media, showed up in attendance. For more information about the Protest-Memorial, click here

Read more »

How would you like to be evicted for doing something completely legal, just because someone else thought it was unsavoury? The federal government of Canada gave an elderly, disabled, sick woman permission to use an illegal flower. That means Marilyn Holsten could legally use cannabis in the privacy of her own home. She even used an odourless vapourizer to inhale cannabis, which does not produce smoke because the plant material is heated, not burned.

Marilyn Holsten has been written about extensively in the Vancouver Province newspaper. Read the news articles here. Read more »

Evicted woman's death senseless -- activists

By Andy Ivens, The Province

Diabetic double-leg amputee Marilyn Holsten may have lost her life while fighting eviction for smoking medical marijuana at home, but her struggle survives.

Supporters of medical-marijuana patients' rights reacted with sadness and anger at the news of her death Aug. 7.

They are organizing a rally next Wednesday, from noon to 6 p.m., in front of the Anavets Senior Citizens Housing Society building in the 900-block East 8th Avenue in Vancouver, where Holsten lived for eight years before being told she had to leave.

"We're counting on quite a crowd," pot activist Marc Emery said Thursday. "A lot of people who are similarly disabled will be there.

"It bodes poorly for many people if they can be evicted for such trivial reasons when their health is at stake — such that they might even die," said Emery, who for decades has campaigned for the legalization of marijuana. Read more »

CANNABIS CULTURE - A diabetic double-amputee who was evicted from her apartment for smoking medical marijuana has died. Protest Marilyn Holsten's mistreatment: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2009 from 12-6pm at the Anavets Senior Citizens Housing Society building at 951 8th Ave E, Vancouver.

Marilyn Holsten had been struggling with diabetes and used marijuana to control her pain. When she was given an eviction notice in April because her landlord didn't like the smell of pot smoke, Cannabis Culture publisher Marc Emery donated a Volcano vaporizer to Marilyn to help eliminate the problem and make her landlord happy. She was evicted anyway. (Read the stories below).

Protest Marilyn's treatment and show support for other medical marijuana users on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2009 at the Anavets Senior Citizens Housing Society. Don't forget to tell your friends and share this on your Facebook and Twitter profiles! Read more »