The B.C. government says more than $100,000 seized in police raids of Vancouver mushroom dispensaries should be forfeited as the proceeds of crime.
But activist Dana Larsen, who is named as a defendant in the civil forfeiture lawsuit, said he will fight to get the cash returned.
Larsen said Tuesday that, despite being listed as a defendant, he doesn’t own any of the money that Vancouver police officers took during raids on Nov. 1, 2023, and on Oct. 17, 2024. He said he is merely the spokesperson for the businesses, which are operated by the Strathcona Tea Society. The society is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, filed Jan. 17.
Larsen said his lawyer suggested they have a good chance of getting some of the cash back.
“If we were to get some of that money back, it’d be nice. It really affects our ‘get your drugs tested program,’ which we put most of our money towards, and it’s been very challenging keeping that going when we have these huge financial losses,” he said.
The lawsuit alleges Larsen and the society operated three dispensaries — the main one at 651 East Hastings St., another at 247 West Broadway and a third at 8480 Granville St.
“At the material times, the businesses possessed and trafficked scheduled substances under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act,” the statement of claim said, adding that the stores sold psilocybin mushrooms, coca leaf, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and dimethyltryptamine (DMT).
Read the full article at The Vancouver Sun
