Pubdate: Fri, 15 May 2015
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Copyright: 2015 The StarPhoenix
Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author: HenryTye Glazebrook
Page: A1

MARIJUANA LOUNGE CLOSED, OWNER OFFERS FREE POT

A Saskatoon-area marijuana lounge has shuttered its doors, but its
owner says the closure won't stop him from pushing for legalization,
even if accomplishing that goal means giving it away himself.

Jeffrey Lundstrom, owner and operator of The Lounge in the Loft, said
representatives from the city's community services branch, the fire
department and Saskatoon Health Region requested access to the
property for inspection purposes on May 11.

Rather than grant entry to the business, he instead chose to close it
down permanently.

"They were very persistent about the inspection. My basic thoughts on
it were that this is the first stage of them attempting to push my
business out," Lundstrom said.

The Lounge in the Loft has been open since February, offering a place
for both recreational and medically licensed marijuana enthusiasts to
use cannabis in a social setting. Lundstrom, an avid proponent of
legalization, said he had plans to use the business as a cultural
venue for open-mic comedy, poetry and even as a location for
educational seminars on the benefits of medicinal marijuana.

Instead, he is now planning to host a shutting down "smoke out" party
on Saturday, when he'll toke up and dole out free marijuana to anyone
who joins him.

"I want the City of Saskatoon to know that I want to publicly disobey
their existence. You want to come arrest me for weed? Then I will be
giving it away for free - which in their books is considered
trafficking. So I implore them to come arrest me. I want to go to jail
for their bulls - t, so I can go stand in front of their courts and
argue they're wrong," Lundstrom said.

"This is public disobedience. This is how you make things
change."

Saskatoon police said they are aware of Lundstrom's plans, and
although they were not inclined to say what their response will be,
they strongly discouraged anyone who plans to attend or break the law.

Michael Schwandt, deputy medical health officer for the Saskatoon
Health Region, verified that the three groups did pursue an inspection
on May 11, and said it's not uncommon for joint inspections of this
kind.

According to Schwandt, the health region was merely responding to
reports The Lounge in the Loft was serving prepared food without
appropriate documentation.

"We have a responsibility under the public health act to license the
restaurant if there's food preparation. If it's just a matter of
serving chips or other munchies that have already been prepared and
packaged, that's not really our jurisdiction," Schwandt said.

Lundstrom said he is in the planning stages of starting a non-profit
organization called Sensible Saskatchewan as an official channel for
collecting signatures and attempting to change the social and legal
stigma around marijuana use.

"It's got to start somewhere, and I'm not going to stop fighting. I
just hope I don't go to jail in the process," he said.
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