Canada:
Nelson,
British
Columbia,
Head
Shop
Busted
for
Marijuana
Sales
7/21/06
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/445/nelson-bc-marijuana-bust.shtml
The Holy
Smoke Culture Shop and Psyche-Deli in Nelson, British Columbia, was
busted Saturday night and one of the owners, Paul DeFelice, was jailed
on marijuana and psilocybin distribution charges.
As a Nelson resident for
much of the past four years, this writer has been aware of Holy Smoke,
but has never published articles about the activist-oriented establishment.
Nelson police have never seemd to have an issue with them.
But it was Nelson City Police
who raided Holy Smoke on Saturday, and DeFelice told the Nelson Daily News
he was not surprised. Since the change in federal government, he
said, police have been given marching orders to make "small-time" busts.
"It's pretty screwed priorities when there's murders and violence and robberies,
home invasions that they make the priority in something where there's no
victim and no complainants," said DeFelice.
Still, the bust was "all
good," DeFelice said. "The idea is in the long run we want to be
left alone because we're not hurting anybody but at the same time, if they
want to come after us, plenty of arguments that we want to make in court,
plenty of answers to legal questions that I want to hear. I want
to hold the powers that be to account," he said. "I want to educate
the public, and if they're going to shine a spotlight on me and give me
a platform, I'll definitely use it."
Police are promising more
arrests, but the Holy Smoke bust is already a symbolic blow to the Nelson
area's burgeoning marijuana community. The area and the nearby Slocan Valley are
notorious pot-growing zones -- while hard numbers are hard to come by, one
indication of the size of the local industry is the four marijuana grow equipment
shops in Nelson. The Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area has two.
-- END --
|
Issue #445
-- 7/21/06
Editorial:
Do
We
Really
Want
to
Help
Kids
Find
the
Drug
Dealers?
|
Feature:
Vancouver
Fights
to
Save
Its
Pioneering
Safe
Injection
Site
|
Feature:
What
Would
Jesus
Do?
Religious
Communities
as
Drug
Reform
Allies
|
Law
Enforcement:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
|
Sentencing:
Bill
to
Study
Habitual
Drug
Offender
Registry
Introduced
in
Maine
|
Europe:
Britain
Goes
After
Medical
Marijuana
Suppliers
|
Australia:
Victoria
Greens
Call
For
Prescription
Heroin,
Safe
Injection
Sites
|
Middle
East:
War
Driving
Iraqis
to
Drugs
|
Canada:
Vancouver
Police
to
Stop
Arresting
Peaceable
Drug
Users,
According
to
New
Draft
Policy
|
Canada:
Nelson,
British
Columbia,
Head
Shop
Busted
for
Marijuana
Sales
|
Harm
Reduction:
Needle
Access
Bills
to
Become
Law
in
Delaware,
Massachusetts
|
Web
Scan:
Cato
on
Paramilitary
Police
Raids,
John
Fugelsang
on
Drug
War
for
Daily
Kos,
Australia
Institute
Drug
Prohibition
Report
|
Weekly:
This
Week
in
History
|
Jobs
and
Internships:
Marijuana
Policy
Project
and
Criminal
Justice
Policy
Foundation
|
Weekly:
The
Reformer's
Calendar
|
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