By Jeff Hampton
Pro-cannabis campaigners are planning protests this weekend, following police drug raids yesterday.
They say garden shop workers have been charged with selling bottles of common nutrients and plant trays under the guise of drug offences.
The activists received plenty of support as they set up outside a Switched on Gardener franchise that was raided yesterday, part of a police crackdown on indoor grow shops.
Nationwide 250 people were arrested, many were charged with cultivation and possession of cannabis.
A 64-year-old is charged with selling a general plant nutrient, others for selling magazines and DVDs showing how to grow cannabis.
“It doesn’t take many smarts to be clever at planting a weed,” says cannabis campaigner Blair Anderson.
“Are they going to blank out the sun to stop people growing it? It’s a weed, dammit.”
A little set-to with police didn’t deter them.
“The right to protest is an ancient right, protected under Magna Carta,” Mr Anderson said.
“It’s not just 250 people busted yesterday, but their families too will be absolutely gutted by what is happening,” says Kevin O’Connell of the Legalise Cannabis Party.
The raids targeted Switched on Gardener stores, as well as other smaller centres throughout the country.
Police claim the operation broke the cornerstone of the cannabis cultivation industry.
“We think it’s a significant hit on the commercial growing industry around cannabis,” says Deputy Commissioner Rob Pope.
Others, including Michael Appleby of the Legalise Cannabis Party, see it as a civil rights issue.
“The next thing of course is going to be the burning of books, isn’t it? If you’ve got any books on cannabis at home, beware of the knock on the door,” he said.
Those running the shops got bail but the conditions could lead to a significant fall-off in customers; anyone who shops there must provide photo ID which goes on a register police can inspect at any time.
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