Pubdate: Thu, 30 Mar 2017
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Jacquie Miller
Page: A7

POT DISPENSERY WORKERS STAGE PROTEST BEFORE THEIR COURT CASE

Five clerks who were charged during a police raid on a Cannabis
Culture shop earlier this month staged a protest at the courthouse
Wednesday before their first appearance on drug trafficking charges.

The "budtenders" were joined by half a dozen supporters who waved
signs saying "Free the Weed!" and "No Prison for Pot."

The clerks are among 29 people charged in police raids on 14 marijuana
dispensaries in Ottawa since last November. Police have warned that
the dispensaries are illegal, and carry products that are unregulated
and may be unsafe.

Cannabis Culture is a brand created by activists Marc and Jodie Emery,
sometimes dubbed Canada's Prince and Princess of Pot. The Emerys were
arrested earlier this month as part of a Toronto police operation
against the chain.

Budtender Alexander Newcombe, who was at the courthouse, called the
raids a waste of money because the government has promised to legalize
recreational marijuana.

"We hope the Crown will wise up and drop the charges."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admitted to smoking pot himself when he
was an MP, Newcombe said. "So why doesn't he put himself up for
charges? "It's a joke at this point." Another of the five budtenders
said he made a living for a decade as a "small-time" dealer selling
weed to friends before he got the job at Cannabis Culture.
Dispensaries have taken business away from street dealers, said the
man, who uses marijuana himself for a stomach condition. "I don't have
a criminal record, I have a daughter to take care of and a wife with
medical issues. There's no way in hell I can go to jail."

Budtender Michael Patterson said the customers at Cannabis Culture are
a mix of medical and recreational marijuana users of every age and
description, from grandmothers to civil servants who drop in on their
lunch hour.

The budtenders were represented in court by the law firm of Kirk
Tousaw, a B.C. lawyer specializing in cannabis law, who was part of
charter challenges that forced the federal government to allow medical
patients to grow their own pot and have access to cannabis
derivatives.
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