Pubdate: Tue, 28 Apr 2015
Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.ottawasun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.ottawasun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329
Author: Jon Willing
Page: 4

CHECK OUT THIS JOINT

Vanier Business Owner Rolls Out Marijuana Lounge to Local Smokers

The fuzz showed up at Wayne Robillard's new joint exactly when he was 
rolling it out to reporters Monday.

Two polite cops walked into BuzzOn at 29 Montreal Rd. to collect 
information about the pot smoking "lounge" in Vanier.

Robillard put it all on the table for police and the press: Yes, it's 
a place for people to bring their weed and smoke it.

When police left, Robillard inflated a vapour bag stretched tight 
with pot smoke and sucked it back for photographers.

Robillard, 51, doesn't fear the law and he doesn't have a medical 
marijuana licence. He quietly opened BuzzOn with two business 
partners on April 20 - 4/20, the equivalent of Super Bowl day for 
potheads - and plans to ramp up to a full opening this weekend.

It's not just for medical marijuana licence holders, Robillard said. 
Anyone 19 years old or older with weed is welcome to come in and 
smoke it for a daily "membership" fee.

There are no marijuana sales at BuzzOn. And no mooching off others is allowed.

In fact, not much is sold at all. There is a bar, but no alcohol.

There's a PlayStation 3 in front of a couch and the rest of the place 
is filled with regular tables and chairs. The business has installed 
one exhaust system and plans to install more.

Robillard hopes police and City Hall don't shut it down. He says he 
negotiated with the landlord to break the lease if after 60 days the 
city steps in.

"We don't know what's going to happen with Mayor Watson and the 
police. They could sic them on us very easily," he said. "I don't 
anticipate we're going to shut down, but we're planning for it, just in case."

[sidebar]

LOCATION DOESN'T CHANGE LAW

BuzzOn's Wayne Robillard concedes that smoking pot inside his 
business is illegal because marijuana possession is illegal if you 
don't have a licence.

There could be other regulatory pitfalls, too.

Robillard said he doesn't have a municipal business licence because 
he couldn't find a category of licence that fits.

He said BuzzOn doesn't allow blunts - marijuana rolled in cigar 
paper, which has tobacco - since the law doesn't allow tobacco 
products to be smoked in businesses.

It's hard to say if BuzzOn fits within city bylaws. The city referred 
all questions to police, which said the drug unit is investigating.

[sidebar]

The Ottawa Sun's Jon Willing sat down with BuzzOn owner Wayne 
Robillard to talk about his controversial new business.

Q&A With Wayne Robillard, Business partner of BuzzOn

Why did you open BuzzOn?

I went into a couple of (cannabis vapour business) in Toronto and 
thought they should be everywhere. It's taken me a few years but we 
finally got one up and running here in Ottawa and we'll see what 
happens, I guess.

How is this legal?

It's actually not legal. It's still illegal in Canada to consume 
marijuana, unless you have a licence, and even if you have a licence 
they can give you a hard time. So really what we're doing is an open 
form of protest. What we're saying is we don't agree with Canada's 
cannabis laws and we don't feel it should be a priority for the 
police or municipal governments to deal with.

So what you're doing is illegal?

To be quite honest with you, I don't express it exactly that way, but 
if a customer comes in and says how is this legal, my response is 
always to say it doesn't matter where you smoke marijuana, it's still 
illegal in Canada, so whether you're smoking it in a lounge or out on 
the street, you can very easily be charged with possession. The 
difference is, our lounge is somewhat of a safe haven.

Are you open to anyone, not just medical marijuana licence holders?

We don't ask them for licences because they have no legal obligation 
to show it to me or present it to me. I have no authority to ask them 
for medical records, so we just don't ask.

What does a customer get for the entry fee?

You can use the vaporizers. We'll supply you with papers if you need 
them. And you just get to relax. There's a variety of board games and 
sudoku and crossword puzzles and things like that. People tend to 
come in and play cards, they play games, they chill for about an 
hour, and they leave.

Why pay to come to BuzzOn when you can hang out and smoke dope at home?

It's a totally different social atmosphere. We'll also have 
entertainment available on weekends and certain nights will be talent 
nights, that sort of thing. The whole social atmosphere is to just be 
around people who smoke. It's a very comfortable setting.

Why open on Montreal Rd. in Vanier?

There's a recovery centre across the street, so there are much more 
heavier eyes going over there. We're right across the bridge from the 
downtown core which should make us a great target on the weekend, 
we're hoping. We wanted to blend in in a nondescript neighbourhood. 
We've got a head shop just down the road. There's a lot of 
restaurants and a hooka place next to us, a tattoo shop, so we 
thought it was a good area to blend in.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom