April 30, 1998From Cannabis Canada:
In yet another futile and senseless police raid, the Hemp BC
storefront was occupied by Vancouver Police today, April 30, after the store had been
closed, from about 7pm to 11pm.
About 25 officers emptied the store of bongs and pipes, and also seized the store
computer.
Police also occupied the Cannabis Canada Magazine production
office, a few blocks away on Water Street. They originally threatened to seize all of the
Cannabis Canada production computers, but in the end they only seized three machines, with
all of Cannabis Canada s financial records.
Police also seized all the pipes and
bongs from the Cannabis Canada mail-order stockroom.
No arrests were made, and no charges have been laid in relation to the raid and
seizure.
The police apparently had the misguided idea that Marc Emery was
still the owner of Hemp BC, which he is not. They seemed genuinely surprised that Emery
was no longer the owner.
See
Vancouver's Marc Emery Calls It Quits In
Battle With City -- Turning Businesses Over to Employees
A crowd of over 50 gathered in front of the Hemp BC store in protest of the police
raid. The crowd smoked joints and calmly but loudly told the police they were misguided
and that they should just go home.
Police were drawn from the surrounding area to assist in hanging around and watching
the crowd, leaving the surrounding neighbourhood vulnerable to real crimes.
Marc Emery was not able to go to the Hemp BC storefront, as he is
still banned from that block as a result of being accused of giving a half gram of hash
to an American tourist.
See
Hemp
BC Owner Charged With Trafficking Because An American With A Gram Said,
‘Marc Emery Gave It To Me!’
The police raid was ostensibly to find information and evidence backing up their
charges against Marc Emery. The police called a Justice of the Peace and had an additional
warrant faxed to the office to justify their seizure of the bongs.
The Cannabis Canada office is located on the fifth floor of our building. The building
elevator is turned off after hours, so the cops had to hike up and down five long flights
of stairs, carrying out boxes of bongs and big computer monitors.
Hemp BC will be open for business tomorrow, and production of
Cannabis Canada magazine will continue. We will not let this police harassment deter us
from our ultimate goal. With each raid they expose the war on drugs as the morally corrupt
beast that it is.
It s painful and unpleasant for us all, but regular police raids
are apparently a necessary price to pay for telling the truth about our forbidden love
affair with marijuana.
Dana Larsen (muggles@hempbc.com)
Editor, CANNABIS CANADA MAGAZINE, www.cannabiscanada.com
Suite 504 - 21 Water Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6B 1A1
tel (604) 669-9069; fax (604) 669-9038
Are you outraged by these raids? Express your anger.
CClist, the electronic news and information service of CANNABIS CANADA,
"Canada’s National Magazine of Marijuana & Hemp"
Subscribe to Cannabis Canada! Call 1-800-330-HEMP for info.
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