Pubdate: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2014 Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: http://www.ottawasun.com/letter-to-editor Website: http://www.ottawasun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329 Author: Jean-Francois Cloutier Page: 11 TOP GRIT GOT RICH OFF POT MONTREAL - Liberal Party of Canada CFO Chuck Rifici has become a multimillionaire in just a few months thanks to his stock-traded medical marijuana company, QMI Agency has learned. Documents show Rifici's initial investment in Tweed Marijuana Inc. has so far sprouted into an $18-million bumper crop. Rifici co-founded Tweed and served as its CEO until he resigned on Aug. 27. He remains on the company's board. According to financial statements, Rifici's fortune exploded after Tweed's initial public offering in April 2014, when it became one of the first to sell legal marijuana under a new Health Canada licensing system. Rifici obtained some of his shares directly and other shares were purchased at 89 cents each. Tweed shares are now worth $2.36 and the company's value is $ 95 million, according to Bloomberg. This sets the value of Rifici's shares at $ 21 million. Tweed's net worth has fluctuated between $20 million and $100 million since the IPO. With Rifici owning a 22.1% stake in the company, his shares were worth between $4.4 million and $22.1 million, according to financial documents. Rifici, a Franco-Ontarian, is a staunch supporter of Justin Trudeau, who has advocated that marijuana be legalized. "I like his ideas, I'm not hiding that," Rifici told QMI earlier this summer at Tweed's factory in Smiths Falls, Ont. Health Canada says the number of Canadians using medicinal marijuana is expected to rise tenfold over the next decade, to 450,000 people. The market could be worth $1.3 billion by 2024, the department says. "We'll have to meet this demand," said Rifici. His is one of just 13 companies with licences to legally sell pot. Tweed grows its pot in the town's old Hershey chocolate factory. A police station is right across the street. Although the marijuana is officially used for therapeutic purposes, marketing is very prominent in Tweed's sales pitch. The Tweed logo is front and centre on the company's website, which also features branded pot products with names such as Weaver, Bogart and High Lands. In an Aug. 27 news release announcing his resignation as Tweed's CEO, Rifici said he was stepping down "to help the company recruit a CEO with the skills and experience to take Tweed to the next level of expected high-volume and rapid growth in this aggressive market segment." Rifici and the Liberal Party were not available for comment as of press time. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom