Pubdate: Thu, 23 Feb 2017
Source: Metro (Ottawa, CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 Metro
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/Ottawa
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4032
Author: Haley Ritchie
Page: 6

POT SHOP OPENS NEAR PARLIAMENT HILL

Marijuana activist Jodie Emery brought the fight over illegal
dispensaries to the seat of government Wednesday, with a rally on
Parliament Hill that kicked off the opening of a new Ottawa store that
sells pot to anyone over 19.

Emery is a well-known marijuana activist, who runs a successful chain
of stores called Cannabis Culture with her husband, Marc Emery. The
couple are known as the "prince and princess of pot."

At a small rally on Wednesday, Emery and a dozen supporters railed
against the government's "injustices," including arrests of dispensary
staff and strict regulation of access to the drug that has resulted in
raids on illegal shops.

On Tuesday a Cannabis Culture location in Brantford was raided the day
after it opened, but that didn't stop Emery from attending the grand
opening of a new store just a 15-minute walk from Parliament Hill.

"We have a right to medication that is going to help us," said Sherry
Morrison, who attended the rally on the Hill and was one of the first
customers at the new dispensary on Bank Street.

Morrison's daughter was arrested in the Jan. 31 raid of Weeds on Bank
Street, another chain of dispensaries that has attempted to open
locations across the country.

- - With files from Dylan Robertson
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MAP posted-by: Matt