Pubdate: Fri, 10 Oct 2014
Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Vancouver 24 hrs.
Contact: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/letters
Website: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3837
Author: Ada Slivinski
Page: 5

MEDICAL POT SELLER DERIDES EMERY'S 'PRINCE' CROWN

The man who runs Vancouver's marijuana vending machines says Marc
Emery's reign as the "Prince of Pot" is over.

"'Prince of Pot,' you know what, that's a self-proclaimed title," said
Chuck Varabioff, the director of the BC Pain Society. "There's room
for other people in the industry who are going to stand up and go
about it legally, peacefully, respectfully and try to get it legalized."

Varabioff said Emery got what he deserved when he was sent to jail
because he flaunted the way he was breaking the law. He also said
Emery's comeback after being released from jail hasn't been successful.

"They were trying to hold a rally and gather support in some of the
parks across Canada and from what I saw there was maybe 50, a hundred,
couple hundred people there at best," said Varabioff.

Emery said the medical marijuana industry owes a lot to
him.

"I've never called myself 'The Prince of Pot' ... I got that from CNN
and TIME Magazine and The New York Times," he said.

"Maybe you should tell him [Varabioff] that I was the person that
financed the court challenges that made medical marijuana legal," he
said.

Regarding Varabioff, Emery - who didn't recognize the name - said,
"His opinion, I trust, isn't very common," adding, "I was just selling
seeds by mail, he's selling from a vending machine."

Emery returned to Canada in August after serving a five-year sentence
in a U.S. prison for selling marijuana seeds by mail to American
customers. Marijuana dispensaries are illegal in Canada, and Varabioff
acknowledges he is breaking the law with his vending machines.
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