Pubdate: Thu, 10 Jun 1999
Source: Canadian Press (Canada)
Copyright: 1999 The Canadian Press (CP).

JUDGE ORDERS CANNABIS CAFE CLOSED

VANCOUVER (CP) - The Cannabis Cafe closed Wednesday after a judge granted
the city of Vancouver an injunction closing the cafe and Sister Icee's Hemp
B.C.

Doors were locked and telephones disconnected at the Hastings Street
businesses by noon.

Shelley Francis, who bought both businesses from pro-marijuana activist
Marc Emery last year, had asked the B.C. Supreme Court to overturn a
Vancouver city council decision denying her a business licence.

Under Emery's ownership, the cafe had vaporizers on each table and seeds
and growing equipment were sold out of the store.

But Emery's cannabis capers have been featured in Rolling Stone magazine
and on television's Hard Copy.

Last fall, city police used U.S. military undercover agents to gather
evidence for a marijuana bust at Hemp B.C. and the Cannabis Cafe.

Court documents showed that four U.S. navy undercover agents were used to
try to buy marijuana and then smoke it at the internationally known emporiums.

The four agents were named in an application for a search warrant that led
to an April 30 raid on the stores.  The documents showed the Naval Criminal
Investigative Service agents worked in a joint operation with Vancouver
police in April.

The Justice Department swore three charges of possession and sale of drug
paraphernalia against Francis.  The trial is set for July 19. More than
3,400 American sailors from the USS Constellation and the USS Rainier were
in Vancouver in April.
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