Burnaby's first marijuana store, the Dutch Embassy, was raided by RCMP at about 4:30 on Friday, February 28. Organizer David Malmo-Levine (pictured) and at least two co-workers were arrested and jailed. David is still in prison and needs a resident of the lower mainland to post his $4000.00 bail.

The Dutch Embassy address is 420 Grove Street, at Grove and Hastings. The line is (604)291-7729. Their message line is (604)253-6357. David Malmo-Levine will eventually check his email growpotkin@hempbc.com. If you can help David please call the Cannabis Canada office at (604)669-9069

The Dutch Embassy is operated by the Harm Reduction Club; the Club sells quality marijuana openly to club members in a safe environment. Club members plan to keep the storefront location near Burnaby's Kensington Plaza open despite the raid. The Club will run a full page ad in the local paper this week calling for a discussion of the Club's role in the community.

This is by no means the first setback for Club operations. The Club's original location in the Commercial Drive area was busted by police last year. After the move to the new storefront location in Burnaby, the club once again thrived despite repeated armed robberies by local hoodlums, inluding repeating offenders "The Colour Connection", whose members sported Tarrantino-style names like "Blue," "Pink," and "Red". These local thugs weren't all without conscience; one group of bandits made it clear to the club that they found the motivations of the earlier cutthroats "unethical". In the latest attempt at the Embassy's purse, a skuffle followed a tactical error on behalf of the would-be thieves, and they made off with bruises instead of buds. Local RCMP had stated they considered the thieves to be of a higher priority (for their crime-fighting skills) than the club. The RCMP have not released word as to whether all the thieves in Burnaby had been taken into custody, as their actions would imply.

David is out of jail and had been forced to curtail the marijuana sales but is determined to keep the club open for informational purposes. The club is still collecting signatures to get a town hall meeting on the subject. The burnaby city council has refused to help set up a meeting; the CBC are thinking it over, and other non-corporate entities are being considered dor assistance. Perhaps with a democratic mandate some tolerance zones can be established similar to the medical marijuana zones can be established, hopes Malmo-Levine.

Dave advises all friendly compatriots, "don't whistle in jail."

You can contact the Globe and Mail and Vancouver papers with letters of support for the Harm Reduction Club. As usual, don't forget to include your name, mailing address and daytime phone number. Please cc me (muggles@hempbc.com) a copy of any letters you send.

Globe & Mail:       letters@globeandmail.ca
Vancouver Province: provedpg@ppress.wimsey.com
Vancouver Sun:      sunletters@ppress.wimsey.com
Vancouver Echo:     rshore@vanecho.com
North Shore News:   editor@nsnews.com
Westender:          westender@jumppoint.com
Terminal City	    tcmag@vkool.com