Pubdate: Sun, 26 Jul 2015
Source: Winnipeg Sun (CN MB)
Copyright: 2015 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.winnipegsun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.winnipegsun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/503
Author: David Larkins
Page: 6

REBEL WITH A CAUSE

Meet the man behind Winnipeg's first medical marijuana dispensary

Fifteen years ago, Glenn Price had his wrist gashed open when moving a
large mirror that shattered. The damage required 500 stitches, Price
said, and the scar to prove it still weaves through his skin to his
hand, where extensive nerve damage has left him without feeling in his
fingers.

On the same arm, Price "broke" his shoulder 10 years prior to that
incident, which to this day leaves him with chronic pain that doctors
originally wanted to prescribe powerful painkillers to treat.

Price knew 25 years ago he didn't want the Percocet or oxycodone that
doctors prescribed. He wanted weed.

"I didn't believe in pills. I don't believe in pills," Price
said.

If Winnipeggers wonder about the man who has found himself in the
spotlight the last week, that is a snapshot.

The 54-year-old in essence created that spotlight when he opened a
marijuana dispensary on Main Street earlier this month without the
legal right to do so. Winnipeg police, after being alerted to Price's
operation by an activist group in B.C., have visited him multiple times.

Given he doesn't have the legal right to dispense product, it would
seem the efforts of the born-and-raised Winnipegger can only lead to a
dead end. But he has no intention of stopping.

"The reason I'm doing this and can't stop is because of the stories I
hear every day from the people that need me," he said.

Two years ago Price and his wife visited Vancouver and had their eyes
opened to a land where legal medical cannabis abounds. He said trying
to procure marijuana legally, through Health Canada's complex system,
got him nowhere and the frustration led him to explore opening his own
operation.

His wife and two grown daughters worry about him and what will happen,
but nevertheless support what he's doing. He has two grandsons, too.

"I tell them it's OK," he said. "Karma happens. I never believed in
karma and everybody's telling me I'm doing such good things that maybe
karma's going to come back. Good things happen to good people."

Price has pledged to donate what money he makes to local groups in
need, and put his money where his mouth was on Friday.

"I've always said, if I make any money, I'm going to give it away,"
Price said, producing a receipt from Siloam Mission that shows he made
a $500 donation to the homeless shelter. "Anything that I make over my
wage and paying my bills, I want to give back to the community."

Price said even if his operation is shut down, he's already certain
another one will open, although he declined to say where, but
acknowledged he wouldn't be the one opening it.
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MAP posted-by: Matt