Hemp dealer finds notoriety helps business

Chris Clay of London is awaiting a verdict on charges against him of
selling marijuana plants. The judge's ruling is expected to have
farreaching effects.

By Eric Bender, Free Press Reporter

Hemp store operator Chris Clay says his notoriety "hasn't hurt."

Clay, 26, is awaiting a decision in what could be a landmark case in a
court challenge to Canadian marijuana law contained in the Narcotics
Control Act. His possession and trafficking trial over a
twoweek period at the London courthouse in April and May gained
international attention.

Global attention has also garnered him $26,000 in donations for his
defence costs, the Londoner said Saturday.

"About half has come from the United States," said Clay, who is
proprietor of Hemp Nation retail store at 343 Richmond St. "Twenty to 25
per cent has come from Canada and the rest from other
countries Greenland, Chile, Luxembourg, Australia and New Zealand. A
doctor in New Zealand sent me $300."

Clay said people in the U.S. are hoping a decision favorable to Clay
will influence similar challenges in the U.S.

INTERNET SITE: Much of the funding has come via the Internet where
Clay keeps an updated website that helps with his campaign to liberalize
cannabis laws.

"I couldn't have done this without the website," Clay said, but added
money has been donated by "people who just walked in the door."

He had been publicizing his call for defence funds before the trial
began by selling what he called $50 "Victory Bonds."

Clay's defence counsel, Osgoode Hall law professor Alan Young, said
during the trial that the defence, which includes a constitutional
challenge, was being done on a shoestring budget and
suggested his services were being largely donated.

A large portion of the defence costs arose from bringing in
agricultural, pharmacological, sociological and statistical and legal
experts to testify from across Canada and the U.S.

Clay said the trial publicity brought "more people into the store now"
and he has opened a restaurant in the rear. Hemp products are sold on
the premises and Clay uses it as a base for his lobbying attempts with
politicians and media campaigns for drug law reform.

He has established what he calls a museum of the history of hemp
containing literature extolling the virtues of commercial hemp
production and the use of marijuana for medicinal and recreational
purposes.

Clay's problems or opportunity to challenge what he calls an unjust
law and misconceptions about cannabis began in 1995 when by accident
an undercover city police officer found Clay and
employee Jordan Prentice to be selling seedling marijuana plants. Clay
and Prentice were subsequently charged with several counts of possessing
and trafficking in cannabis sativa relating to the sale of seedlings and
cannabis seeds in small bags. The store was raided.

Clay linked with Young, also a proponent of liberalized cannabis
legislation, and they mounted a defence to the charges and have asked
Ontario Court Judge John McCart to nullify legislative
controls, or some of them, on cannabis and its various uses.

Clay and Prentice have pleaded not guilty. They expect to learn
Tuesday during a brief return to court for jurisdictional purposes when
the judge will be rendering a decision, Clay said.

________________________________________
Hemp Nation * http://www.hempnation.com/
Chris Clay * chris.clay@hempnation.com