POLICE RAID TONY'S HEMP CORNER

Police seized cannabis with a street value of UK Pounds 50,000 yesterday
from a health food shop openly selling it.

Tony's Hemp Corner in King's Cross, London, which has sold cannabis for
medical use to more than 250 people with multiple sclerosis, cancer and
Aids for several years, was raided by officers from Islington police station.

Around 40 plants and cannabis resin were seized. The proprieter, Tony
Taylor, was taken to the station for questioning.

Chris Sanders, who saw the raid, described it as "friendly and relaxed".

"The police didn't come busting their way in or anything, it was very
softly softly," he said. "The health food shop downstairs was still open."

Mr Sanders, a member of the Cannabis Coalition, added: "The police will
find plenty of evidence of possession with intent to supply because Tony
was completely open about what he was doing. If he is charged it will be a
very important test of the courts' resolve to prosecute people supplying
cannabis on humane grounds."

Mr Taylor's customers have to fill in a form, undergo a 20-minute interview
and provide him with a doctor's letter.

Last Saturday, Mr Taylor told the Guardian that his trade was tolerated by
local authorities; in King's Cross, police had the sex and cocaine trades
to worry about, he said.