- P R E S S R E L E A S E -
Holy Smoke Four heading to court
NELSON, BC -The Holy Smoke Culture Shop cannabis trafficking case is scheduled for a five day trial in the Nelson Court House from Monday, April 28 to Friday, May 2, 2008. The case began in July 2006 with the arrest of Paul DeFelice, followed soon after by the arrests of Alan Middlemiss, Kelsey Stratas and Akka Annis , just months before celebrating the shop's 10th anniversary.
The Holy Smoker's plan on answering the cannabis trafficking charges with a common law defence of Necessity which is reputedly one of the most difficult arguments to make in criminal law. Basically the accused pot dealers need to prove that they were preventing more harm than they were causing by selling high quality cannabis to adults in a controlled setting. There will be an expert witness from the US to testify on behalf of the defence as well as local eye-witnesses.
“We don't believe that prohibition has been effective in controlling cannabis or any drugs for that matter,” said DeFelice. “In fact there is overwhelming evidence from every parliamentary committee ever struck that prohibition causes much more harm than it prevents. We do not want to see young people coming into contact with hard drugs and unscrupulous people whether it's in the public garden or in jail.”
Donations to the Holy Smoke legal defence fund will be gratefully accepted at Don Skogstad's Law Office, 415 Kootenay Street, Nelson, V1L 5P7. For more information visit www.holysmoke.ca.
Holy Smoke Four heading to court
NELSON, BC -The Holy Smoke Culture Shop cannabis trafficking case is scheduled for a five day trial in the Nelson Court House from Monday, April 28 to Friday, May 2, 2008. The case began in July 2006 with the arrest of Paul DeFelice, followed soon after by the arrests of Alan Middlemiss, Kelsey Stratas and Akka Annis , just months before celebrating the shop's 10th anniversary.
The Holy Smoker's plan on answering the cannabis trafficking charges with a common law defence of Necessity which is reputedly one of the most difficult arguments to make in criminal law. Basically the accused pot dealers need to prove that they were preventing more harm than they were causing by selling high quality cannabis to adults in a controlled setting. There will be an expert witness from the US to testify on behalf of the defence as well as local eye-witnesses.
“We don't believe that prohibition has been effective in controlling cannabis or any drugs for that matter,” said DeFelice. “In fact there is overwhelming evidence from every parliamentary committee ever struck that prohibition causes much more harm than it prevents. We do not want to see young people coming into contact with hard drugs and unscrupulous people whether it's in the public garden or in jail.”
Donations to the Holy Smoke legal defence fund will be gratefully accepted at Don Skogstad's Law Office, 415 Kootenay Street, Nelson, V1L 5P7. For more information visit www.holysmoke.ca.
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