Nelson pot shop owners defend 'designated dealers' at trial

Four Nelson men accused of selling marijuana say they were practising harm reduction techniques intended to reduce street-level drug dealing, while also making a political statement about the illegal status of the drug they consider a holy sacrament.

The men's lawyer, Don Skogstad, said on Monday at the start of the trial that his clients admit they sold drugs to undercover police officers two years ago, but said he will argue the sales were part of a harm reduction program.

Paul DeFelice, Alan Middlemiss, Kelsey Stratas and Akka Annis plan on answering the cannabis trafficking charges with a common law defence of necessity, arguing they were preventing more harm than they were causing by selling high quality cannabis to adults in a controlled setting.

'We're proving first of all that prohibition doesn't work.' —Paul DeFelice

Holy Smoke shop proprietor Dustin Cantwell, who was not charged in the case, testified that part of the reason the men sold marijuana was to get rid of street level dealers.

Drug dealers used to congregate in a garden outside the shop selling low quality marijuana at high prices, sometimes to people who appeared to be very young, Cantwell testified on Monday in B.C. provincial court in Nelson.

But Cantwell said he noticed changes when Holy Smoke instituted a 'designated dealer' program.

In the program, a person associated with the shop was trained in a so-called "harm reduction" method of selling an accurately weighed high quality marijuana product.

As a result street-level dealing outside the shop dropped off, testified Cantwell.

Defendant Alan Middlemiss testified potential customers had to be the age of majority as well as sober and polite. They even had to say 'please' when they wanted to make a purchase.

Middlemiss drew a laugh from spectators when he replied to judge Don Sperry's question whether someone would be denied if they refused to say please.

"There would be a delay," Middlemiss said.

Another one of the defendants, Paul DeFelice, testified another reason for the pot sales was to challenge the drug laws that make marijuana illegal.

"We're proving first of all that prohibition doesn't work. Prohibition causes more harm. So if we successfully prove that, then it's up to politicians and people to work at repealing prohibition. Let's re-legalize pot," said DeFelice.

The court also heard that many of the store's regulars belong to the Church of the Universe, which regards marijuana as a sacrament, according to Cantwell.

The shop also sold psychedelic mushrooms occasionally, but only during a full moon or pagan festivals, Cantwell said.

The trial is expected to resume later this week.