Hemp BC And Cannabis Café To
Close As A Result Of City Political Pressure;
Neighborhood Merchants Want Them To Stay. Protests Urged By Cannabis Culture.
See
Vancouver
Police Put Prohibitionism Above Patriotism –
Use US Navy Agents In Attempt To Entrap Hemp BC
and
Media Criticism
Canadian Style:
Vindictive Vancouver Police Raid Hemp BC Again, Along With Cannabis Canada
Hemp
B.C., Cannabis Cafe owner set to close
From The Vancouver Province
http://www.vancouverprovince.com
May 24, 1999
By Jack Keating, Staff Reporter The Province
The owner of Vancouver’s first marijuana joint expects to be out of business by
the end of the week.
"I will honour the wishes of the court and I will close Hemp B.C. and the Cannabis
Cafe," Shelley Francis (a.k.a. Sister Icee) said yesterday.
Francis thinks Justice Thomas Melnick will grant the city an injunction this week to
close the two marijuana emporiums in the 300-block West Hastings.
Lawyers for Francis last week launched a judicial review in B.C. Supreme Court against
city council’s refusal to grant Francis a business licence after a controversial
show-cause hearing.
"I’m saddened by the narrow-mindedness of the city
council that would perpetuate this stupidness that has been going on for five years,"
said Francis, who bought the two businesses from Marc Emery in March 1998.
See
Vancouver's Marc Emery Calls It Quits
In Battle With City -- Turning Businesses Over to Employees
She said she has been unfairly targeted by police and city council.
"We are high-profile political activists here, speaking out against unjust
marijuana laws in this country. Those laws criminalize otherwise hard-working and innocent
Canadians."
George Macintosh, a high-profile lawyer retained by the city, argued in court that
council had grounds to deny a licence, and asked for an injunction to shut the two
operations down.
"I guess they’ve won," said Francis. "I think our days are
numbered, but I will not close Hemp B.C. until a judge orders me to. I will always
continue this fight to decriminalize marijuana. It’s one that has to be fought."
Neighbouring merchants said they’ll be disappointed to see
the end of Hemp B.C., which was featured in Rolling Stone magazine, the Wall Street
Journal and the New York Times and was supported by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association
and a petition signed by 10,000 people.
"They’re very good for the neighbourhood," said Don Vincent, part-owner
of Bassix, a music store.
"It’s going to be bad for business down here if they’re shut down.
"They’ve brought down a lot of people between the ages of 18 to 28, which
is also our age-group target. People that are here shopping now are middle-class kids and
young adults with money.
"It became a really happening block. If they leave, it’ll bring a lot less
affluent people down here. And it’s going to be taken over more by junkies and
pawnshops."
(Marijuananews note: Think about this for a moment.
If marijuana use caused social problems, the local merchants
would be demanding that these places be closed. In stead, they are demanding that they be
allowed to stay open.
This is the ultimate "real world" test of the
effects of marijuana on behavior, the sort of people who use it, and what marijuana
legalization would do for the cities.)
A message from Cannabis Culture:
We need people from around the world to write in that they looked to Hemp BC and
Vancouver as a beacon of hope and tolerance, and that City Hall is trying to snuff that
beacon out.
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