COPS RAID MEDICAL POT CLUB

2nd Time in 4 Months

A downtown Toronto clinic that provided medical marijuana remained
closed Thursday after the second police raid in four months.

Neev Tapiero, owner of the CALM Compassion Club at 106 Queen St. E.,
was arrested later at his home Wednesday, Const. Tony Vella said.

Complaint

Officers from 51 Division investigated a "community complaint," and
seized an allegedly larger than-permitted stock of pot, plus hashish
and hash oil, Vella said.

Several people in the storefront near Jarvis St. were briefly
detained, he said.

Nine people, including Tapiero, were arrested there on drug charges
in late March.

Website support

A supportive website quoted lawyer Ron Marzel condemning the raid and
Health Canada's "dysfunctional medical marijuana program."

The Toronto Hash Mob vowed to support Tapiero, 38, who founded
Cannabis As a Legitimate Medicine (CALM), and ran as a Marijuana
Party candidate in the 2000 federal election in Toronto-Rosedale.

He faces 12 drug-related charges, including possession for
trafficking purposes plus possessing crime proceeds.