Vancouver police are defending their decision to seize pot products from a grassroots program in the Downtown Eastside that advocates say was designed to help ease people off harder drugs.
On Wednesday, police said they took issue with characterizing the seizure as a "raid," a descriptor used by several media outlets, including CTV News, noting that officers gave one days' warning before showing up to collect the marijuana from the "High Hopes" table at the Downtown Eastside Market last week.
"Our officers took a very fair and balanced approach to the situation by giving a warning the previous day," Sgt. Jason Robillard told reporters at a news conference.
The seizure sparked public outcry from community advocates, who said the drugs are part of a harm-reduction program that's been offering marijuana to opioid users to help them deal with their cravings for about a year.
Organizers told CTV News some 25 people have quit heroin with help from the program, and as many as 50 others have reduced their use.
But Robillard suggested High Hopes was not purely focused on harm-reduction, nothing that the items seized – which included joints, cannabidiol pills, hash and bud marijuana – were marked with price tags.
"This wasn't drugs being given away, this was drugs being sold for personal profit," Robillard said. "There are other avenues that will support harm-reduction and we support those through our partners in the community. If you need medicinal marijuana, there are legitimate ways of obtaining that. This wasn't one of them."
Volunteers said the program provided easy access to heroin users in the area, however, and that the seizure had sent some of them “into a tailspin.”
The decision to seize the drugs happened after police noticed the table during a routine patrol of the market last Thursday. Officers said they spoke to the market’s executive director, who told them the High Hopes organizers had previously refused requests to clear out.
Robillard said authorities were "listening to the wishes of the market executive director" when they gave High Hopes a warning Thursday and then returned Friday to seize the drugs.
Though police were not happy with accusations that they “raided” the table, program organizers had their own issues with what they saw as mischaracterization by law enforcement. Police said there were bottles of "white powder" among the items seized, which they did not open for safety reasons.
Sarah Blyth opened one of the bottles for media this week, showing that the powder’s white appearance was actually caused by the colour of the bottle. She said the substance was actually light-green kratom powder, taken from a tree in the coffee family that's said to have calming effects. It's not illegal to possess, though Health Canada restricts its sale.
With files from CTV Vancouver’s Jon Woodward
