LdyLunatic
08-12-2006, 05:45 PM
The Hamilton Spectator
(Aug 12, 2006)
Two years of confrontational pot activism are up in smoke.
"It's certainly the end of Up in Smoke Cafe in Hamilton," says Up In Smoke on its website.
Chris Goodwin, 27, owner of the "pot-friendly" downtown cafe remains in jail, having been denied bail after his July 27 arrest for allegedly flouting the terms of previous releases on marijuana-possession charges.
The King Street East cafe has been raided several times by police -- and some 50 arrests were made -- since it opened two years ago. In the last instance, police seized pot-related merchandise worth thousands of dollars, according to Detective Sergeant Mike Thomas, head of the Hamilton Police vice and drug section.
"The people who are running it are on criminal charges now or drug-related charges and breaching conditions. It must have become impossible for them to keep the store open.
"Ever since they opened, they were a concern for us. And those concerns were expressed to us by a number of people who have stores in the area or lived in the area.
"The conclusion here, I think, is this is good news. It's good news for the city and specifically the downtown."
The Hamilton Spectator
(Aug 12, 2006)
Two years of confrontational pot activism are up in smoke.
"It's certainly the end of Up in Smoke Cafe in Hamilton," says Up In Smoke on its website.
Chris Goodwin, 27, owner of the "pot-friendly" downtown cafe remains in jail, having been denied bail after his July 27 arrest for allegedly flouting the terms of previous releases on marijuana-possession charges.
The King Street East cafe has been raided several times by police -- and some 50 arrests were made -- since it opened two years ago. In the last instance, police seized pot-related merchandise worth thousands of dollars, according to Detective Sergeant Mike Thomas, head of the Hamilton Police vice and drug section.
"The people who are running it are on criminal charges now or drug-related charges and breaching conditions. It must have become impossible for them to keep the store open.
"Ever since they opened, they were a concern for us. And those concerns were expressed to us by a number of people who have stores in the area or lived in the area.
"The conclusion here, I think, is this is good news. It's good news for the city and specifically the downtown."
The Hamilton Spectator