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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: 'I am a victim of state terrorism'
A Young Hull Daily Mail
Wednesday 17 Dec 2003 One of the city's best known pro-cannabis campaigners today claimed he is the victim of "state terrorism" after being arrested in a police swoop. A dozen police officers in full riot gear raided market stallholder Carl Wagner's house in Victoria Square, off Ella Street, west Hull, on Monday. Mr Wagner, 44, was handcuffed and held in Priory Road police station for 11 hours before being released on bail without being charged. He was arrested on suspicion of possessing cannabis with intent to supply. The raid came after police secured a search warrant from city magistrates. But Mr Wagner told the Mail: "I will fight any charges that might be brought against me. "They turned my house upside down, absolutely terrified my wife and three-year-old daughter and came away with just four plants and about an ounce of weed." He claimed the warrant had been obtained after an anonymous tip-off that he was in possession of crack cocaine. "When my solicitor told me about the crack cocaine I was completely gobsmacked," he said. "More damaging for me is that they have also seized my takings from the stall, my computer and my mobile phone. "They have made it virtually impossible for me to function as a trader. It was pure state terrorism designed to destroy my business and my family. "The police know perfectly well I always have cannabis on me. All they had to do was knock on my door or ring me up and ask to see it." Mr Wagner has run a stall in Hull's indoor Trinity Market selling cannabis and hemp-related products for the past two years. He also stood for parliament as a Legalise Cannabis Alliance candidate in the last General Election in the Hull North constituency. "I am convinced what happened is part of an organised witch hunt. "My wife was totally humiliated by the experience and my daughter was left wondering why police officers were searching through her toys and sweets. "I have to ask what benefit they got from scaring the life out of my wife and child and locking me up in a cell for eight hours." A police spokeswoman declined to identify Mr Wagner but added: "A 44-year-old man from the Ella Street area was arrested on suspicion of intent to supply. He has been released on police bail for a week."
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