COPS PULL POT PALS OFF TO THE SLAMMER

Two big buds in the fight to legalize marijuana were mellowing out in jail
last night after a police raid on a downtown Vancouver pot emporium turned
ugly.

David MalmoLevine, a three jointaday puffer and Marc Emery, who once
travelled to a European trade show with some of B.C.'s finest stashed in
his bags, were arrested outside the Cannabis Cafe.

The arrests infuriated about 250 people on the street outside, many of them
smoking pot.

Hemp B.C. supporter Ryan Keeler, 19, said when things started to get out of
hand, police peppersprayed the crowd.

And when they took MalmoLevine away, he said, ``they were pretty rough
with him.''

Const. Anne Drennan said police moved in after an undercover cop was
offered a vaporizer to use to smoke pot.

She said police have been watching the operation for months.

She said all hell broke loose after a check was done on MalmoLevine and it
was discovered he was wanted on six outstanding warrants for mischief.

When police took him into custody ``a fight broke out and it was quite a
large fight,'' she said.

``One fellow tried to grab an officer's gun,'' she said.

Emery, the owner of the Cannabis Cafe, will likely be charged with
assaulting a police officer.

He allegedly spat in an officer's face, said Drennan.

Emery is also before the courts on trafficking charges in connection with a
police raid of his store in 1995, when they allegedly found pot seeds.

As police were sifting through the store before the altercation broke out,
Emery said he couldn't understand why police were about to confiscate items
from the operation while his court case is still ongoing.

``We'll never shut down,'' he said. ``I though there was an understanding
marijuana people are not harmful people.''

Customers in the shop when it was busted were surprised.

``I though they were a little more tolerant up here,'' said David Anderson
of California, in B.C. to check out the hemp store.