Last month, three hemp shops in southern Ontario were targeted for police raids. Two raids were carried out; the third, in Toronto, has been put on hold. Hemp shops sell various products, like clothes and bags and paper made from hemp, plus literature on cannabis and cannabis culture. (Hemp is the plant, the vegetative matter; marijuana is the flowers, the buds, the stuff you smoke for a THC high. Learn the distinction.)
   Question: Is this a coordinated plan by cops to harass Ontario hemp advocates into silence?
   "That's a possibility," says Alan Young, law professor at Osgoode Hall. "If there was some meeting of municipal police forces which we don't know about, they could well have made a joint decision to clamp down. If Chris Clay gets raided, then I'll know something is up."

   Chris Clay is owner of London, Ont.'s Great Canadian Hemporium. He's conducting business as usual - in fact, on Sept. 3, (1994 ed) he opened the Marijuana History Museum, which celebrates the world's most versatile plant.
    "They didn't hit Chris," nods Bob Lazic, owner of the Kitchener store that was raided. "I mean, if anyone promotes marijuana, it's Chris." Others think it's more a "chain reaction" - cops get the raid itch watching their cousins in action.

• AUG. 4: Kitchener-Waterloo's Shakedown Street (276 King St. W.), a Grateful Dead-culture shop that also flogs some hemp goods and books, is raided after an elderly woman complains to K-W cops the store's a Satanism front. With no warrant, Detective Constable Steve Beckett comes in, takes what he wants and splits - $4,000 worth of magazines and books. Leaves no receipt, lays no charges, just flashes badge and confiscates.

(Next day, Shakedown is served with summons to appear in court to set trial date.)

• AUG.20: Canadian Hemp Association and The Friendly Stranger (226 Queen St. W., Toronto's first hemp shop) hold Queen's Park rally demanding marijuana decriminalization. Eye runs story on The Friendly Stranger, encouraging Torontonians to frequent the store.
  
  
• AUG. 23: Detective Bill Neadles of Metro's Morality Bureau, Drug Enforcement Section, pays visit to The Friendly Stranger. Tells them he read Eye story. Says he'll be back in a couple of days with cops and a warrant. (He isn't; see below.) Eye has learned, through a police source, that the original complaint against The Friendly Stranger came from across the street at CITY-TV.
  
  
• AUG. 26: Young gets Shakedown's appropriated merchandise released, pointing out to local crown attorney that seizing books without a warrant is not an acclaimed police procedure. "They had a little bit of egg on their face," Young told Eye.
  
  
• AUG.30: Kingston police enter 100% Hemp Co. (72 Princess St). Constable Carmen Robinson carts out any item remotely hemp-related - including T-shirts with a hemp poem on them.

   "They took all our pipes, all our books, a bunch of patches with marijuana leaves on them, posters and those T-shirts," says 100% Hemp manager Geoff Pross. "We're still open, but are drastically reduced in stock. If things stay like this, we'll go out of business." (and they did. Ed)

   All the above was accomplished courtesy of section 462.2 of the Criminal Code, Mulroney's marijuana legacy to Canada, which technically makes it illegal to even "promote" the use of marijuana in writing.

   Trouble is, courts have never had a chance to test the constitutionality of 462.2. "Cops keep on charging people, then withdrawing the charges," Young says. "They effectively use it as a harassment tool."

   Marc Emery, head of HEMP BC, says authorities don't want 462.2 challenged because they'd lose a powerful anti-civil liberty tool to intimidate citizens into silence. Emery tried desperately to get charged under 462.2 when he lived in London - even standing outside the London police department selling marijuana grow guides. TV cameras flocked to this hilarious image, but police refused to arrest him. (Police spokes-people told TV cameras they wouldn't "play into Mr. Emery's hands.")

Police didn't go after Toronto retailers selling the August Atlantic Monthly, which featured a cover calling for the decriminalization of marijuana; nor did they raid Eye for its even more blatantly pro-pot Aug. 18 cover story; nor did they arrest Ottawa Police Chief Brian Ford for explicitly (and bravely) saying it's time to get police off the backs of Canadians who want to smoke grass at home. Yet each is an instance of "promoting" marijuana use under 462.2.

Instead, cops save it to pick on tiny groups or isolated citizens. Who cares about hemp shops? Well, to the surprise of Metro police, many. Neadles' phone has been ringing with complaints. Robin Ellins' in-store fax campaign has resulted in lots of friendly strangers faxing opinions to Chief William McCormack. Such grassroots activism set news media buzzing about the humble hemp shop.

The police are stunned by the unexpected spotlight. And Neadles hasn't returned to bust Ellins; instead, he went out to lunch with him (and lawyer Young). Young suggested Metro police might wait to see the outcome of a case about the constitutionality of banning drug literature currently before the courts here in Toronto.

On Aug. 31, Neadles asked The Friendly Stranger if he could "borrow" a few books to show his superiors. He took out three grow guides. Happy reading, boys. (Neadles has yet to return any of Eyes calls.)

K.K. Campbell

Eye Magazine - September 22, 1994