Pubdate: Tue, 15 Nov 2016
Source: Peterborough Examiner, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 Peterborough Examiner
Contact: http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/letters
Website: http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2616
Author: Jason Bain
Page: A1

CANNABIS CULTURE REOPENS

It no longer sells marijuana, but Cannabis Culture reopened Saturday
to sell drug paraphernalia with an aim of becoming a community hub for
pot smokers.

The chain store at 282 George St. N, drew long lineups of recreational
and medicinal smokers after opening as a marijuana dispensary in
September before being shuttered following a pair of police raids,
first on Sept. 15 and then on Sept. 29.

The premise behind opening to sell products such as rolling papers,
pipes and bongs is to pay the bills, but more importantly, to ensure
the community is aware the location is here to stay, new store manager
Eamon Cyr said Monday.

"We do not intend on leaving Peterborough," he said. "We are here. We
are not going anywhere. We want the community to gather and come
together to make this work for everybody."

Those behind the store also want to ramp up its community involvement,
including hosting community meetings to discuss advocacy and lay out
ways a medicinal dispensary can work. Other municipalities have began
to accept dispensaries, he said.

"We want to try to put Peterborough on the map and have this city be a
community in which a dispensary is allowed to operate," Cyr said,
adding that another aim is to dispel the myth that the store opened
only to exploit. "We do care about the community."

The planned eventual legalization of pot - the federal government is
expected to introduce legislation next year - will "solidify" the
store's position in the community, Cyr said.

Store owner Richard Standen and employees Maranda Gallant and Erick
Woolsey were arrested and charged in the police raids.

Prominent pot advocate Marc Emery founded the Cannabis Culture
company, which opened its first marijuana dispensary in Toronto -
where there are now more than 100, many of which have also been raided
by police - earlier this year.
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