POT SELLER ACCUSES POLICE OF DOUBLE STANDARD

City police shut down a West Pender Street booze can on the weekend in the
same building stormed earlier this year by police, who charged a medical
marijuana group with selling pot.

According to Michael Maniotis, who tipped the police about the booze can at
169 West Pender St., seven police cars arrived outside the premises shortly
before 3 a.m. last Sunday morning and ordered people to leave.

"The police turned up about 45 minutes after we called, and they handcuffed
and took away two employees," said Maniotis, who has been monitoring the
site with video cameras for the past month. The cameras were placed in cars
parked opposite the site and in a building a block away on the other side
of the street.

Maniotis is director of the Merlin Project, which grows and distributes
medical marijuana and was a previous tenant at 169 West Pender St.

Maniotis was arrested there for possession of marijuana for the purpose of
trafficking Jan. 18 when the Vancouver Police Department's Emergency
Response Team stormed the building. The raid came after two undercover
officers claimed to have bought marijuana at the site. Police also claimed
to have found $5,000 worth of marijuana, $3,200 in cash and $4,200 in seeds.

Shortly after the raid, city building inspectors declared the site was in
breach of several building codes and could not be occupied until the
problems were fixed.

Maniotis said the Merlin Project, which has since moved to 1718 Commercial
Dr., spent several thousand dollars renovating the site and is now trying
to re-claim a damage deposit from the landlord, Tina Konkin.

"I wanted to see how the police would treat a place selling booze illegally
compared to somewhere they thought was selling marijuana illegally,"
Maniotis said. "With us, they came in with automatic weapons and ordered
everyone to the ground, including medical marijuana users who are sick in
the first place. With the booze can, they just waltzed in plainclothed and
the operator left out the back door in a white limousine with a beer in his
hand."

Maniotis has handed copies of his surveillance videos to police.

The Vancouver Police Department was unable to confirm details of the bust
by the Courier's press time. A spokeswoman for Konkin said she had not been
advised of the bust.