To the Editor:

I'm writing regarding the Editorial "Seeing both sides through the
Smoke" NDN April 14, 1999. I have an obvious bias as a Holy Smoke
owner/defendant. Some comments:

First of all, the Judge did not just "infer" that the police
"misrepresented" the facts, staged the evidence, and violated our
Chartered rights, he said so! The Judge did not "impugn (impugn: to
contest falsely) the character of these men" as you put it. They did
it to themselves over 5 days of testimony. That's a hard thing to
fake. The transcripts are there for anyone to read.

Of course I feel sorry for the police and their families who now have
to live in this town under the shadow of their past indiscretion, but
what about the lives that have been ruined, families torn asunder and
costs incurred to peaceful cannabis users by police using Gestapo
tactics and taxpayer's money? Cannabis arrests are up 70% in Nelson.
Lucky for the police there is no penalty for violating a person's
rights or they could face a conviction, record, and fines and
imprisonment like cannabis users do. A big difference to remember
here is that, unlike rights violations, there is no victim/complainant
in a drug prohibition crime.

The police are trained, armed members of a paramilitary
force.

They must be kept under tight regulation if they are not to become
more dangerous than the criminals they're supposed to be chasing. The
police here admitted being angry and acting hastily. This is the kind
of attitude that leads to people getting hurt. Like 22-year-old
Daniel Possee being shot dead by police in his apartment in a
Vancouver pot raid, or David Glover who was shot in the chest (and
survived) by Vancouver police because they say they thought his TV
remote control was a gun. I hope that NCP recruits from Vancouver do
not bring this Big City attitude with them.

At Holy Smoke I constantly hear stories of Nelson police conduct that
I find offensive. If law enforcers cannot question the validity of
law then why are police allowed to set up their propaganda
presentations in our schools and shopping malls? They are obviously
vested interests lobbying for stricter laws, more power, and more money.

In closing, I would like to thank the hundreds of kind people who
donated the thousands of dollars that it took to defend ourselves.

Paul DeFelice
Co-Owner Holy Smoke Culture Shop