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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.")
| Lots
of Friendly Strangers |
|
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. |
