Pubdate: Mon, 19 Sep 2016
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Jacquie Miller
Page: A1

SEIZED MAIL SHIPMENTS SHUTTER WEEDS STORES

Two of Ottawa's most popular pot shops have closed after Canada Post
intercepted shipments of marijuana mailed to them from B.C.

Don Briere, president of the B.C. based Weeds Glass & Gifts chain,
says he hopes his dispensaries on Bank Street and Montreal Road will
reopen if he can figure out a way to ship the dried weed,
cannabis-laced brownies, candy, concentrates and other merchandise
across the country. Weeds buys the products from growers and bakers in
B.C.

Briere said his company has been mailing marijuana products by express
mail ever since he opened stores in Toronto a year and a half ago.
There has never been a problem with Canada Post before, he said.

"All of a sudden, they flagged us and they started seizing the
packages."

Federal politicians have warned that the marijuana dispensaries
popping up across the country are operating illegally.

"I think the Liberal government - even though they were voted in to
legalize cannabis - are encouraging law enforcement, saying, 'The law
is the law,' " Briere said in an interview from B.C.

Briere is now searching for a trucking firm willing to transport
cannabis. He won't hire criminals for the job, he said.

"We're trying to get this out of the criminal element and into a
legitimate business. We are doing it upfront and telling everybody."

Briere, sometimes called Canada's king of pot, has been a vocal
marijuana advocate for 25 years. He is setting up his chain of medical
marijuana dispensaries in anticipation of the government's promise to
introduce legislation next spring to legalize recreational marijuana.

As far as Briere is concerned, Canada's laws against pot have already
been struck down in the court of public opinion. He's trying to
operate like any other business, but it's difficult, he said. He had
half a dozen stores in Toronto, but after police raids or the threat
of them, all the Weeds shops there have closed except one. That
location still ships products from B.C. using Canada Post, but not to
the store address, Briere said. Weeds also has a dozen dispensaries in
B.C., mainly in Vancouver.

His company pays GST and corporate taxes, said Briere, and it also
lost money seized during the Toronto police raids, a situation he
calls "triple taxation."

"We're not stopping; this is our right," Briere said, citing Canadian
court rulings that patients must have reasonable access to medical
marijuana. The dispensaries are providing an important service, he
said.

Medical marijuana is legal in Canada, but patients must obtain it from
a producer licensed by Health Canada, such as the Tweed facility in
Smiths Falls. Licensed producers can use Canada Post to send their
products to customers.

People with a doctor's prescription for marijuana can also grow small
quantities of marijuana for themselves, or buy from growers licensed
by Health Canada to produce pot for up to two patients.

Briere says his shops obtain their weed from medical patients or their
designated growers in B.C., who just produce extra. The federal
government has warned that products sold at dispensaries are not
regulated by Health Canada and could be unsafe.

There doesn't appear to be a shortage of cannabis products at other
dispensaries in Ottawa. Many of their operators are not forthcoming
about where they obtain their merchandise or how it is transported to
Ottawa.

For example, another B.C. chain has opened seven shops in Ottawa since
June. The stores are called Green Tree, Wee Medical and Canna-Green,
although staff say they are all related.

Staff at their dispensaries on Preston Street, Bank Street, Rideau
Street and Montreal Road refused to provide the Citizen with
information about who owns and manages the shops, although several
said the merchandise was from B.C.

Requests sent by email to the addresses listed on the Green Tree and
Wee Medical websites were not immediately returned.

The locally owned Magna Terra Health Services, which operates
dispensaries on Carling Avenue and on Iber Road in Stittsville, has
not had a problem maintaining supplies, said spokesman Franco Vigile.

In previous interviews, Vigile said he operates responsibly and is
confident that his B.C. suppliers are top-notch, but declined to give
details about them because the transactions are in a "grey area" legally.

The two Weeds stores in Ottawa had more than 1,000 customers,
according to the store manager.

Weeds is negotiating with Canada Post to try to prevent the
destruction of the estimated $200,000 worth of merchandise that was
intercepted in August, said Briere.

That included seven large boxes mailed to Ottawa and six boxes mailed
to a store in Quebec City, which was closed in late August after
police raided it and charged several people with drug
trafficking.

Canada Post said the shipments violated its regulations on
"non-mailable matter," said Dean Davison, the Vancouver lawyer acting
for Weeds. The Canada Post Corporation Act allows the post office to
open mail to determine if it violates those regulations, which include
a general clause against mailing anything that is "in contravention of
an Act or a regulation of Canada."

Davison said he's working on legal appeals to try to get the
merchandise back. Weeds faces no criminal charges for sending the
merchandise through the mail, as far as he's aware, Davison said.

OTHERS OPEN FOR BUSINESS

The two Weeds stores in Ottawa may be temporarily closed, but there
are plenty of others to choose from. New dispensaries are popping up
quickly, and there are now at least 15 in the city.

All say they cater to medical marijuana users. There is a wide
variation in how they operate and who is allowed to buy marijuana. The
two Magna Terra Health Services dispensaries, for example, look like
upscale medical clinics and employ a nurse. The bare-bones Green Tree
stores feature a display case of cannabis products and an ATM machine.

Two of the newest shops are on Gladstone Avenue between Bronson and
Bank, across the street from each other.

Sylk Medy Dispensary operates in one room, containing a couple of
couches and a desk, in the front of a brick house. The merchandise,
contained in a small case, consists of cannabis oils, creams and
capsules. Customers must fill out a two-page form about their medical
conditions and be approved by Health Canada to use medical marijuana.

"I'm sick and tired of everybody opening a store and just selling
weed," said owner Scott Sumers. "It's just a cash grab." His shop does
not sell dried weed, candies or cookies.

"I want to deter people who just want to score some weed and get
high.

"I don't want stoners in my business. Stoners bring your business
down."

Two Sylk Medy staffers interviewed last week said medical marijuana
has worked wonders for them. Todd, who declined to give his last name,
said he had to give up his job as a mechanic after being diagnosed
with Crohn's disease. He was in dreadful pain and prescription pain
medication left him feeling like a zombie.

He now takes a drop of cannabis oil that is high in CBD, a chemical
component of marijuana that has medicinal effects but does not make
you high. Todd said he is now able to function.

Danny said he uses marijuana to help control diabetes and anxiety. He
said he hopes to conduct cooking classes and wellness workshops at the
Sylk Medy dispensary. He's scathing about the cannabis-laced candy,
cookies and pop sold at other dispensaries: "It's junk food."

Across the street, the Releaf Centre opened about a week ago in the
back of a house. The entrance is down a narrow alleyway, a setup that
some customers may prefer because it's more discreet, said a staffer
who identified himself as Dvon.

He was temporarily conducting business from the dingy, dark basement
of the house last week after a water pipe burst upstairs. The owner of
Releaf is a friend of his from Toronto, Dvon said. The owner could not
immediately be contacted for comment.

Releaf plans to sell dried weed to customers legally allowed to use
medical marijuana, Dvon said. He began using marijuana himself in
Grade 8. After a few years, he realized it was also helping his
anxiety and ADHD.

Dvon said he is signed up to legally purchase medical pot, but Health
Canada-licensed producers are only allowed to sell it online and ship
products by mail. He said he prefers to see the merchandise to make
sure it's high-quality.

At the Wee Medical Dispensary Society shop on Rideau Street on Friday
night, a middle-aged man emerged after buying a package of gummy
candy. He said he is HIV-positive and marijuana is the only thing that
helps him keep his appetite. He, too, can purchase marijuana legally,
but licensed producers are not allowed to sell edible products.
Smoking hurts his lungs, he said.

He used to buy his candy from the Weeds shops, the man
said.

"I figured I knew (about) this Don Briere guy, and he's not a Hells
Angel, as far as I know."

A trio of University of Ottawa students wandered into Wee Medical
lugging two cases of Sleeman beer. They filled out application forms
but were told to come back the next day to purchase products because
the store had run out of membership cards.

"This is f---ing dope," quipped one of them in an interview outside
the store. Jerome, a business student, said they are casual pot users
and that, "It's a fun thing to do with your friends."

They were impressed with the store, which had jars of dried weed,
cookies and pop for sale.

"It's a more or less safe place," Jerome said. "I'd rather buy it here
than in a parking lot from a guy I don't know."

He was surprised to find the store was illegal. "Why the hell is it
allowed by the police?" Ottawa police say they are investigating the
dispensaries. The first one opened in Ottawa in November 2015.

The students declined to give their last names because of the stigma
attached to pot use. They don't want future employers Googling their
names and discovering they were customers at an illegal pot shop.
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MAP posted-by: Matt