TWO ARRESTED IN LAWRENCETOWN

Ontario's Rick Reimer To Fight 'Bogus' Charge By RCMP

The second annual Atlantic Hemp Fest suffered a double whammy over the
weekend when two of its headline speakers were arrested.

Marc Emery, a marijuana seed exporter from British Columbia was apprehended
at a restaurant in Lawrencetown Friday afternoon and, although he's
Canadian, faces extradition to the United States where he could face up to
25 years in prison.

Rick Reimer, a lawyer and medical marijuana activist from Killaloe,
Ontario, was arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning at the Hemp Fest
being held at the Annapolis Valley Exhibition grounds in Lawrencetown.

Reimer was first taken to the Bridgetown RCMP detachment before spending
the rest of the night in a holding cell at the Kingston detachment. He was
charged with intoxication in a public place, a charge he said is bogus and
that he will fight.

Reimer suffers from multiple sclerosis and has a medical marijuana
exemption that allows him to smoke pot.

After his release from jail at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, a tearful Reimer hugged
his girlfriend Tammy Lewis, lit a marijuana cigarette in the RCMP parking
lot, and thanked the dozen or so supporters who where on hand, including
Debbie Stultz-Giffin, chairperson of Maritimers United for Medical
Marijuana and organizer of the Hemp Fest.

Reimer said he saw an RCMP car on the Hemp Fest grounds and stopped the
vehicle to tell the officer the Hemp Fest had its own security. He was
smoking a joint at the time and the officer brushed it from him, he said.

Lewis said she picked the joint up, lit it and gave it back to Reimer but
the officer told him not to smoke it. She said Reimer told him he was
allowed. Lewis said at that point the officer grabbed Reimer's arms,
twisted them behind his back, and roughly started to force him into the
back seat of the police car.

"He grabbed Rick and said you're under arrest, bent his arms behind his
back, and pushed him in the car," Lewis said. "I yelled 'don't hurt him.'"

Lewis said she yelled in the officer's face and he pushed her with such
force that she fell to the ground. She said she was also threatened with
arrest.

M.E. Woodside of Halifax, part of the Hemp Fest's security team, was with
Reimer and Lewis and agreed with Lewis' chronology of events.

She said Reimer hit his head at least once while being pushed into the car.

"It was unbelievable," she said. "It's still not real. It was something I
never thought I'd witness. What could Rick possibly do to him (the police
officer) to treat him this way?"

Reimer, a fragile man of 50 years old, walks with a staff because of
mobility problems associated with MS, and tires easily. Woodside said she
doesn't understand what threat he could have been.

After his release, Reimer said police told him initially he would be
charged with resisting arrest, a charge he could be held on. "For this
(intoxication) they could have handed me a ticket," he said. The trailer
Reimer was staying in was only a few metres from where the altercation took
place.

Stultz-Giffin said she thought she had an arrangement with the RCMP that if
there were security concerns her staff would notify police. She said that
scenario actually worked the night before. She said prior to the festival
police wanted information on the event that she said she supplied.

"They were aware we were a medical marijuana organization and I impressed
upon them this was an educational event and a fundraiser," Stultz-Giffin
said. "My understanding is that this constable ignored the fact that Rick
is a medical marijuana exemptee."

Lawrencetown is within Middleton RCMP's jurisdiction but the officer who
arrested Reimer is from Bridgetown. He was taken to Kingston because
Kingston has holding cells.

The MUMM chairperson didn't actually see the events leading up to the
arrest, but heard Lewis' shout at the officer and hurried to the scene.

"Last night what I witnessed was similar to American police tactics," she
said. "I find it frightening and appalling."

Stultz-Giffin, who later talked to RCMP in Kingston, said she tried to
impress upon police that Reimer suffered from MS and what the symptoms are
- -- that they could be confused with alcohol intoxication. She was surprised
to find out from Reimer when he was released that he was charged with
intoxication in a public place.

Reimer said he might have had three drinks between 9 p.m. and 1:30 a.m.
when the arrest was made.

Stultz-Giffin also suffers from MS and smokes pot to relieve the symptoms.

Reimer said one of his worst symptoms is nausea and without his marijuana
he was sick all night. He said police took his pants because they had a
drawstring at the waist that Reimer refused to remove. He said he was left
with nothing but his socks and his shirt.

Reimer is scheduled to appear in provincial court September 12 in Annapolis
Royal if he refuses to pay the $111 fine. He said he expects to hire a Nova
Scotia lawyer to enter a not guilty plea and defend himself when a court
date is set.

Reimer gained national attention two years ago when he was arrested in
Ontario for smoking marijuana while driving. He successfully defended himself.

"Even though it's only a $111 fine, it will cost me $5,000 to come back
here and fight it," he said. "I refuse to be intimidated."

Stultz-Giffin said Reimer is being punished for having MS.

Reimer said it was only his second time in Nova Scotia.

"Typical Nova Scotians would not treat people with such disrespect," he
said. "But it was a typical police welcome."

The Monitor-Examiner was unable to obtain RCMP comments before press time
Sunday.

Emery was scheduled to be a speaker and a master of ceremonies at the Hemp
Fest but was arrested at 2:15 p.m. at Lawrencetown Restaurant several hours
before the festival began.

His arrest coincided with a raid on his marijuana seed store in Vancouver
and Canadian police were acting on a search warrant requested by the
American government.

The search warrant names Emery and two others wanted in the US to face
charges of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, conspiracy to distribute
marijuana seeds, and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

RCMP in Nova Scotia, and Halifax Regional Police arrested Emery on request
from police in Vancouver.

Emery was held at a corrections facility in Dartmouth and will be
transported back to Vancouver.

Reimer is the leader of the British Columbia Marijuana party and editor and
publisher of the magazine Cannabis Culture. Emery has 11 prior drug-related
convictions and last year spent three months in a Saskatoon jail for
passing a joint at a pot rally.