Pubdate: Sun, 19 Jun 2005
Source: Kelowna Capital News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005, West Partners Publishing Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.kelownacapnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1294
Author: Anne-Rachelle McHugh
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?330 (Hemp - Outside U.S.)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?228 (Paraphernalia)

WESTSIDE GETS FIRST HEAD SHOP

Westside MLA Rick Thorpe's former campaign office has been transformed
into the place to buy everything you need to get high - except drugs
that is.

Mary Jane's Headquarters opened Saturday at 1820 Byland Road, between
Anthony's Pizza and the Pepper Pot Grill.

The store sells everything related to the hemp culture from clothing
to smoking paraphernalia such as pipes, bongs and rolling papers.
There wasn't anyone catering to the Westside so we decided to hit the
market here," said owner Jodi Holtz.

We carry everything from smoking accessories to hemp-based body
products and two main lines of clothing made of hemp."

Holtz knows her store will ruffle a few feathers but says the business
and the products she sells are perfectly legal.

We are not in a back alley because we're not doing anything wrong and
if anyone has any questions we are here for education also, so they
can come in and ask."

In Rutland, where their first store opened in 2003, fears expressed by
the community and a few concerned parents were quickly laid to rest by
Holtz, a diplomatic businessperson who is neither a hippie nor the
hard-core person many people expect.

Holtz says she is happy to speak with parents concerned about the
store and the impact it could have on their children.

In most cases people's guard drops down when they talk to my husband
or me and say wait a minute these are actually business people who
know what they are talking about. That is the surprise people get when
they walk in our store. Everything they thought it would be it is not."

Holtz is proud to offer environmentally friendly hemp products but
doesn't deny that a portion of her customers come into the store to
buy smoking accessories.

She says while teenagers are in your face" about drug use, they are
far from the store's main customer base.

Most people automatically think our main base of customers is
teenagers but they're not. We've got people into their eighties
purchasing smoking accessories. It's just that everyone is doing it
behind closed doors because of our laws."

Mary Jane's sells products made from hemp, an environmentally friendly
material that has virtually no intoxicating effects when consumed.

Hemp is naturally insect and weed resistant, grows about 25 times
faster than traditional trees and can be grown in most locations and
climates.

Hemp is used to make a variety of products including clothing,
biofuels, paper products, building products, medicine, paint,
detergent, oil, ink, and beauty supplies.

Holtz says hemp-based products cost more than those made using
traditional techniques and ingredients, however the cost is coming
down as hemp's many benefits are embraced by consumers.

Unfortunately hemp has been demonized and it needs to come back to
where people understand that it is not a dangerous drug. It is an
environmentally friendly product that has many benefits."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin