On April 28, 2008, two owners, along with two associates of a Canadian weed warehouse, known as the Holy Smoke Culture Shop in British Colombia, was charged with trafficking. The four defendants, utilized this action to fight marijuana laws in Canada. The trial is expected to resume today.


Trial disputes have been recorded by Nelson Daily News (CN BC). In regards to the cause of distribution of marijuana, Paul DeFelice, Holy Smoke Culture Shop’s co-owner and segment of the indicted four, declares, "The way I see it is we just eliminated the garden drug dealers' customers by allowing somebody we trusted to come inside our shop and do things the way we thought they should be done rather than (the) people that were coming." He also goes on to say, (outside the courtroom), "We're making a necessity defense and what we're saying is that self-regulated cannabis sales are safer than prohibition. That's the baseline."

Alan Middlemiss, Paul DeFelice, Dustin Cantwell.

Alan Middlemiss, one of four accused of trafficking, on his reaction to a police officer saying he did not know about the drug dealing in the garden next to Holy Smoke. (In provincial court):

"We realized that's where we hit them is in their customer base. So we're okay with adults using pot responsibly. We have a concern with young minors using it irresponsibly and coming into contact with people who could hurt them or take their money or offer them something much worse than pot so in our minds, we wanted to eliminate that."

Judge Don Sperry after Dustin Cantwell said the profits reported were higher than what he actually got into his hand (in provincial court)
On the quality of the marijuana::

"I'm not what you would call your typical hippie. I'm not a vegetarian, I don't necessarily care that much about organic, so they educated me when I got here. I was from the city, 'chemmy' weed was the way to go and give you a little bit more of a buzz. But as soon as you start smoking organic cannabis, you can't go back. It's not enjoyable anymore."

The owners of the Holy Smoke Culture Shop have admitted in provincial court to selling organic cannabis from their downtown premises. However, they are putting forward a "defense of necessity," saying they did more good than harm. According to testimony, the store began a "designated dealer" program in 2004-05 to get rid of "unscrupulous" dealers selling drugs in a nearby garden.

Alan Middlemiss, "spiritual" owner and one of four accused of trafficking cannabis from the store, testified customers had to be 19 or older, sober, and polite before they could buy drugs from Holy Smoke.

"We asked that they say please," said Middlemiss, who added that he enjoyed asking people for ID before they passed through three doorways and two rooms to the veranda to purchase the pot.

Holy Smoke co-owner Paul DeFelice and associates Kelsey Stratas and Akka Annis are also each facing two counts of trafficking cannabis, stemming from a 2006 drug bust led by the Nelson police. The Crown's case concluded this week following evidence that undercover police officers from the Lower Mainland purchased various drugs, including cannabis and psilocybins, on June 2 and 3 and July 12 and 13, 2006.
According to Crown prosecutor Rob Brown, the purchases ranged in price from as low as $10 to as high as $240, the latter for about 30 grams of cannabis.

Judge Don Sperry also heard testimony from co-owner Dustin Cantwell, who has not been charged, that the designated dealers -- about three to five of them in all -- had to be trained by Holy Smoke, trusted and activist-minded, that they had to possess a digital scale to weigh the drugs, and they were not permitted to resell the substances.

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Overall Correspondence:

- Where's Your Head At?
You think your the first potheads to defy authority? I got news for you, you guys are far from it. Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the world. Surely government officials know the benefits and downfalls of cannabis by now; probably always have. Bottom line, weed is illegal and it will most likely remain that way until the economy crashes and or we; and by we I do mean the majority of the world’s population, commence a revolution.