COPS ARREST B.C. POT ACTIVIST IN VALLEY

Hemp Fest is one bud short of a guest speaker this year. The second annual
marijuana festival in Lawrencetown, Annapolis Co., lists B.C. Marijuana
Party leader and pot activist Marc Emery as a guest speaker for the music
and weed weekend.

But Emery was arrested outside a Lawrencetown restaurant before he arrived
at the Lawrencetown Exhibition Grounds for the festival yesterday afternoon.

He was held in a cell at Halifax police headquarters last night, but will
likely be remanded to the Burnside jail to await his transfer to B.C. early
next week.

"We expect him to be charged with trafficking and cultivation of
marijuana," said Halifax Regional Police spokesman Const. Mark Hobeck.

Halifax Regional Police Halifax RCMP Integrated Drug Unit plainclothes
officers made the arrest just after 2:15 p.m. yesterday.

Hobeck said Emery was co-operative with police and didn't say much to the
arresting officers.

Police had Emery under surveillance in Halifax and tailed him to the
Annapolis Valley where he was scheduled to speak during the festival.

Vancouver police requested he be arrested around the same time they raided
his Vancouver business.

A store employee told a Vancouver radio station that police arrived with a
search warrant shortly before 11 a.m.

The charges outlined in the search warrant indicate the raid was conducted
on behalf of the U.S. government, CKNW said.

The Vancouver store that was raided, named Toker's Bowl, is adjacent to the
New Amsterdam Cafe where people have been smoking marijuana openly for years.

Several people gathered outside the store to protest the raid, many holding
anti-American signs.

Police sealed off the store and covered the windows with paper while they
conducted their search.

The search warrant sets out a long list of requests made by the United
States to the Vancouver police department.

It asks police to seize cash and receipts, client lists and other records
identifying purchasers of goods from Emery, and employee records, including
applications for employment. It also asks for business and company
incorporation documents, leases, rental agreements, computers, hard drives,
diskettes and CD-ROMs.

A witness in Lawrencetown said Emery was leaving the Lawrenctown Restaurant
just after 2 p.m. when six plainclothes police officers arrested him.

His red Chevrolet rental car remained parked in front of the restaurant for
several hours until police drove it away.

Debbie Stultz-Giffon, chairwoman of Maritimers United for Medical Marijuana
said Emery was scheduled to speak several times over the weekend and
perform as an emcee. "He was here to support us and enjoy the festival,"
she said. "He was definitely a headliner."