CAFE RAID SPARKS BACKLASH

FROM CALIFORNIA TO NOVA SCOTIA, OPINIONS POUR IN

Reaction to a recent police raid at the Cannabis Cafe illustrates
Vancouver's high international profile on the issue, and the power of the
Internet.

The Courier is among the media that received letters and e-mail from
overseas and around North America after police confiscated drug-related
paraphernalia on Sept. 30, and temporarily held seven protestors.

Sean Wilson, a 20-year-old Californian, argues in an e-mail that a Rolling
Stone magazine article several years ago extolling Vancouver's "remarkable
tolerance" toward soft drugs persuaded him to make two trips north.

"Vancouver is the cleanest and most attractive city that I've ever been
to," Wilson writes. "If it were not for Hemp BC, I probably never would
have visited. Hemp BC has become a global destination hot spot and to
continue police raids against a peaceful establishment would cause a much
larger loss than some may suspect."

Other correspondents take issue with the so-called War on Drugs (WOD).
"Whose dark and diseased and unholy mind ever conceived of such a state of
vexation as that of the WOD," asks David d'Appollonia, a Dartmouth, N.S.
father of five. D'Appollonia credits former cafe owner Marc Emery with
pioneering drug police reform on this continent.

David Stincic, of the Ohio-based Academy of 21st Century Thinking, supports
premises like the Cannabis Cafe that "entice pot smokers [users] indoors...
for the purpose of intellectual enlightenment." A Vancouver Island man even
links the fight to legalize marijuana with the struggle for gay rights.

Others object to what they describe as excessive police force. "I'm pissed
off, so the residents of Vancouver must be really mad," writes an Albertan.
"The police officers are the ones who should be arrested. They acted like
barbarians."

Police spokeswoman Anne Drennan said excessive force was not used, and that
no formal complaints have been made.

Drennan also dismissed Hemp BC lawyer Brent Lokash's charge that the raid
was unjustified. She cited to Criminal Code prohibitions against the
possession of "instruments for the use of narcotics or illegal drug use."
(She also alleged that people were smoking when the raid took place.)

Lokash, however, argued that common objects like Coca-Cola bottles, knifes
and needles are used for drug taking, and predicted that the law would be
struck down in court. "Anne Drennan is not a lawyer. She should watch what
she says," he said.

Lokash is among those who argue that targeting the Cannabis Cafe and other
marijuana-related businesses diverts police from dealing with cocaine and
heroin trafficking on East Hastings Street. "Police should be directing
their resources to those that harm our society," Lokash said. "How is Hemp
BC harming our society?"

Downtown Eastside Residents Association co-ordinator Frank Gilbert said the
Cannabis Cafe raid was a slap in the face. "Half a block away they're
dealing crack cocaine and heroin, and uppers and downers. Are [police]
saying to this community they don't give a damn? That's certainly the
message that comes through."

Drennan said police operate both a "hard drug" unit as well as a "soft
drug" unit that deals with marijuana grow operations and businesses like
the cafe. She said the work of one does not affect the other. Sha also said
that high-grade Lower Mainland-grown cannabis is traded in the U.S. for
cocaine, which is then sold in the Downtown Eastside.

Drennan called decriminalization advocated "masters of public relations."

"When we raid Hemp BC and Cannabis Cafe, with 10 minutes there will be a
well-organized demonstration outside, with about 100 to 150 people, and
each time we go down there the group of demonstrators becomes more and more
aggressive," she said.

Photographs provided by Hemp BC show police wrestling several protestors to
the ground, and pushing them into a police van. Drennan said that while
seven people were arrested for breach of peace, they were released at
another location without charge. Finally, Drennan insisted that the city is
not viewed elsewhere as lenient towards drugs.

Meanwhile, Cannabis Cafe and Hemp BC continue to operate with business
licenses. City lawyers agreed to a request from owner Shelley Francis to
postpone a hearing on that issue until after criminal charges are heard
next week in B.C. Supreme Court.

Checked-by: Richard Lake