Pubdate: Sun, 23 Apr 2017
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Jim Coyle
Page: A4

HIGH-PROFILE FANS ENDORSE BURGEONING POT INDUSTRY

World-class athletes attend Toronto cannabis trade show

Anyone hoping to find a stoner scene worthy of a Jeff Spiccoli pipe
dream at the conference would be disappointed

There can't be much that better illustrates the mainstreaming of
cannabis in North American culture than an industry "trade show" at
which two world-class athletes endorse the product and muse about a
day when pot companies will sponsor pro sports arenas. With the
Liberal government promising to legalize marijuana by Canada Day 2018,
the era of marijuana prohibition is over, Olympic gold medallist Ross
Rebagliati told the O'Cannabiz Conference and Expo in Toronto on Saturday.

"Where cannabis is going to be available in the future is everywhere,"
Rebagliati said.

"Any restaurant is going to have a chef that's going to know how to
infuse the food (with certain doses) . . . Just like when you go to a
Thai restaurant and there's like the one pepper or two peppers or
three peppers."

Rick Barry, named one of the 50 greatest NBA players of all time, said
the cannabis industry is "an incredible opportunity for people to get
involved in a business, to be able to make some money, and really be
doing some good for people."

Barry meets lots of U.S. veterans who use marijuana "to survive and
enjoy life a little bit after the things they've been through."

For Rebagliati, the distinction between medical and recreational use
is really a concocted debate to "ease it into the corporate world" and
society at large. "We're going through a massive educational period
right now," he said. "The average person isn't even comfortable being
at a trade show like this."

Anyone at the conference hoping to find a stoner scene worthy of a
Ridgemont High pipe dream at the conference would be disappointed.
There have been political conventions less clear-headed and organized.

The expo of all things weed was all business and had the buzz of any
budding enterprise where fortunes might be made. It was almost as
corporate as the annual Detroit Auto Show - right down to sleek,
bare-shouldered models at some displays. Trade booths promoted
nutrients for "revolutionizing plant potential," irrigation systems,
distribution lines, horticultural equipment and a cannabis securities
exchange.

If Rebagliati, a diminutive British Columbian who won a gold medal in
snowboarding at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, has been for 20 years a
poster boy for marijuana use, Barry, 73, was of a previous generation
of ostensibly clean-cut athletes. He started his career with the San
Francisco Warriors in the 1960s, he said. "I was there when the flower
children and Haight-Ashbury was really getting started and that was
the first time I even heard about marijuana."

So when the two men took the stage for a conversation about marijuana
and sports, they did not immediately appear to be kindred spirits.

Rebagliati, 45, was dressed in ball cap, hoodie, sweatpants, sneakers
and looked like a middle-age sk8ter-boy - albeit one with a gold medal
around his neck. Barry, in slacks, loafers and checked dress shirt,
could have passed for a delegate from a Republican convention.

But before it was over they were finishing each other's
sentences.

Rebagliati, who said he used marijuana for pain management, training
and motivation during his career, has paid for his notoriety. He was
initially stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for THC
before it was later restored to him.

Now, he is the founder of the "the super-brand" Ross'
Gold.

The shopping environment is "very much like a jewelry store," he said.
"It's beautiful to be in and we're attracting the kind of clientele
that wouldn't normally be comfortable coming into a
dispensary."

It seems his customers aren't the only people getting comfortable with
cannabis. The associated law firms Aird & Berlis and Aird & McBurney
- -"a law firm to help you grow" - ran a raffle at booth1404 at the
O'Cannabiz expo. The prize? A trip for two to Amsterdam.
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MAP posted-by: Matt