MEDICINAL MARIJUANA TEAHOUSE SHUTTERED

VANCOUVER -- A marijuana teahouse designed to take advantage of new
federal regulations for medicinal marijuana use has been closed down,
two months after its grand opening.

Police padlocked the doors last weekend and arrested two people
involved in running the teahouse, Detective Scott Driemel, spokesman
for the Vancouver police department, said yesterday.

Michael Maniotis, one of the teahouse organizers arrested, said the
raid followed a dispute with the landlord, which he believes led to
complaints to the police. However, police say they were enforcing the
law and the raid was unrelated to any landlord-tenant dispute.

The teahouse was located in the former coffee shop of a low-income
residential hotel in Vancouver's drug-infested Downtown Eastside. It
had been promoted as a place to connect medicinal marijuana users
certified by Health Canada with designated growers.

Teahouse promoters have previously said marijuana would not be sold on
the premises. Users with a federal licence were expected to bring
their own marijuana to the teahouse, where they could take their drug,
listen to music and socialize.

However, its critics say those behind the teahouse have been using the
federal rules as a cover for trafficking in marijuana.

Under new rules, people who are expected to die within 12 months or
have a severe illness can receive authorization from the federal
government to possess marijuana. They can also grow it or have someone
grow it for them.

Health Canada has approved medicinal marijuana for about 700 people,
Andrew Swift, a Health Canada spokesman, said yesterday. Also, 80
people have been licensed to produce marijuana for those authorized to
use it.

Det. Driemel said undercover police officers had bought marijuana at
the teahouse on two occasions prior to the raid.

When police arrived at the teahouse, they found about 30 people,
including two 16-year-olds. Police found packages of marijuana seeds
for sale and a quantity of marijuana, as well as equipment that could
be used to set up a marijuana-growing operation, Det. Driemel said.