Marijuana, cash seized from Cannabis Culture stores Cannabis Culture has been clipped again. The Broadview Ave. and Queen St. E. pot shop was raided just after noon Wednesday by uniformed and undercover Toronto Police officers. Two warrants were executed by police at the Leslieville location and a second one at St. Clair Ave. E. in East York, according to a Toronto Police spokesman. Before 2 p.m., several large evidence bags yielded copious amounts of bud, cash and unknown containers, which were loaded into the rear of a police minivan on Queen E. [continues 204 words]
Thank you to Ryan Scott and Lisa Leger (Letters, March 16) and Scott Harrison (Letters, March 14) for shedding some light on the marijuana issue. Mayor Lefebvre, it is great to be so law-abiding. I agree if you are speaking about fair, reasonable,realistic laws. However, like our marijuana laws, that should have made marijuana legal 30 years ago, there are some unreasonable, unrealistic, unpopular laws that must be disobeyed to cause change. It is too bad that Rosa Parks could not come to discuss the issue with you. I am sure that Rosa would understand Marc Emery and his wife and many others suffering from the same discrimination. Do you think residential school survivors would recommend obeying the power establishment again? It was the law! [continues 57 words]
Canada's "Princess of Pot" flew home to Vancouver Monday to cut ties with the cannabis empire she and her husband spent decades growing. Jodie Emery returned to her Chinatown apartment for the first time since being released from custody earlier this month in Toronto, where she, her husband Marc Emery, and three other associates in the Cannabis Culture business were arrested and charged with a range of offences including drug trafficking. "I am so grateful to be back where the nature and the forest and the mountains can soothe my soul, after that concrete jungle," she said Monday in her first interview since returning to Vancouver. [continues 622 words]
Police crackdown on Cannabis Culture dispensaries clouds future of Prince of Pot The faint smell of marijuana smoke hung in the halls of Old City Hall on Friday, March 10; dozens had turned out for the bail hearing of Cannabis Culture dispensary owners Marc and Jodie Emery. Bail conditions for Cannabis Culture's Marc Emery include his not being involved in operation of the stores. The "Prince and Princess of Pot" were arrested, along with Chris Goodwin, Erin Goodwin and Britney Guerra, on Wednesday night and charged with a raft of marijuana-related offences, including trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime. The arrests were part of Project Gator, a nationwide operation coordinated by Toronto police specifically targeting six Cannabis Culture locations in Toronto and Hamilton and Cannabis Culture's magazine offices in Vancouver, where computers were seized but no charges were laid against staff. Two Cannabis Culture stores in Ottawa were also raided, although police say those were not connected to Project Gator. [continues 617 words]
The arrest in Toronto on Wednesday of Marc Emery, one of North America's leading pot legalization advocates, may seem draconian to his many supporters. But the law is the law, and those who are alleged to flout it risk arrest, regardless of their reasons for doing so. No one knows this better than Mr. Emery. A diehard libertarian, he once spent four days in jail for violating Ontario's Sunday shopping laws. More famously, in 2005, he was arrested and eventually extradited to the United States, where he was sentenced to five years in prison for selling marijuana seeds to American customers. [continues 362 words]
Police say they seized $26,800-worth of marijuana; four people arrested KITCHENER - After issuing warnings to the region's growing number of unlicensed marijuana dispensaries, Waterloo Regional Police raided a prominent downtown cannabis retailer - seizing significant quantities of pot and cash. The Friday-night bust at Green Tree Medical Dispensary on King Street East came after an investigation that began last month into the businesses, which the police say remain illegal despite changing legislation on the horizon. Four people, three women and a male employee, were arrested and charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking in the raid. Officers loaded large bags of pot, hash, edible pot products and drinks into vehicles as they cleared out the downtown shop. [continues 432 words]
The news coverage of Marc and Jodie Emery's arrest and orders to cease and desist from having any communication and control of Cannabis Culture seems to paint a picture that they are being discriminated against and treated unjustly. Marc Emery has made a career and profits from thumbing his nose at the marijuana laws. Granted, some aspects of these laws need updating, but until they are, what he has been doing is illegal. I doubt that Emery would be as outspoken if he wasn't profiting. Tom Gray, North Delta [end]
'Prince' and 'Princess of Pot' face several drug-related charges after Toronto arrest Marc and Jodie Emery, Vancouver's first couple of cannabis, have been arrested, as police across the country raided seven of the couple's Cannabis Culture marijuana dispensaries, including a shop on West Hastings and a residence in Vancouver. The Emerys were charged Thursday with drug-related offences in Toronto, after raids in Toronto, Hamilton and Vancouver. They are due back in Toronto court this morning. The self-styled "Princess of Pot" were arrested Wednesday as they went to board a plane at Toronto's Pearson International Airport for a cannabis expo in Spain. [continues 665 words]
Stores and homes in Ontario, Vancouver hit in 'Project Gator' Prominent pot crusaders Marc and Jodie Emery will appear in a Toronto court for a bail hearing Friday after police raided the couple's seven marijuana dispensaries in Toronto, Vancouver and Hamilton. The Emerys, purportedly en route to a cannabis expo in Spain, were arrested at Pearson airport Wednesday evening and charged with several drugrelated offences, including trafficking and possession for that purpose. They made a brief court appearance Thursday. "Marc, of course, plans to fight as hard as he can and as he always has for the true legalization of cannabis and the end of all arrests in Canada, as does Jodie," B.C. lawyer Kirk Tousaw said in a TV interview from Vancouver. [continues 572 words]
TORONTO - Prominent marijuana activists Marc and Jodie Emery were charged with multiple drug-related offences in Toronto on Thursday after police in several cities raided pot dispensaries associated with the couple. The self-styled "Prince" and "Princess of Pot" were arrested at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Wednesday evening. They appeared briefly in a courtroom on Thursday afternoon before police announced the full list of charges they faced. Marc Emery faces 15 counts, including conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, trafficking, possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime, while Jodie Emery is charged with five similar counts. [continues 641 words]
Activist couple arrested in Toronto, face 15 drug charges Vancouver police raided Cannabis Culture, headquarters of marijuana activists Marc and Jodie Emery, Thursday morning at the request of Toronto police. The couple were arrested in Toronto Wednesday and face 15 counts, including trafficking, drug possession and proceeds of crime charges. Police across the country have raided seven shops in the Emery chain, branded Cannabis Culture. The federal government has said it will legalize marijuana this year. A Cannabis Culture employee, who identified himself as Chris, said police took marijuana products as well as routers and computers from the store on West Hastings Street near Cambie Street. [continues 424 words]
Hours earlier, activists Marc and Jodie Emery were arrested at Pearson Toronto police raided a Hamilton dispensary Thursday morning just hours after two prominent Canadian marijuana activists were arrested at Pearson airport. Undercover officers raided the Hamilton location of Cannabis Culture on King Street East - easy to spot from its bright green exterior, between Walnut and Wellington streets - manager Rex Mekkem said. "I'm just letting people know. Metro Toronto is raiding the Hamilton store," Mekkem said in a live cellphone video posted to his Facebook page Thursday just before noon. [continues 378 words]
Marc and Jodie Emery face drug charges after latest crackdown A dozen Vancouver police officers raided Marc Emery's Cannabis Culture headquarters on West Hastings Street on Thursday morning. Marc and Jodie Emery were charged with drug-related offences in Toronto on Thursday after police also raided seven of the couple's Cannabis Culture marijuana dispensaries. The self-styled "Prince" and "Princess of Pot" were arrested Wednesday evening as they were about to board a plane to Spain at Pearson International Airport. They were heading to Barcelona to attend the Spannabis marijuana expo. [continues 551 words]
The day after Marc and Jodie Emery were arrested by Toronto police, B.C.-based cannabis advocates and business people said they expect the retail bud business to continue as usual in Vancouver. Jeremy Jacob, the Vancouver-based head of a national industry association for dispensaries, said Thursday its members "have a good relationship" with the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Police Department "and we expect that to continue. "We value the position the VPD has taken during this transition to a regulated market," said Jacob, president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries and owner of The Village Dispensary near Vancouver's Granville Island. None of the Emerys' businesses are members of his association, he said. [continues 367 words]
Dispensaries: First couple of cannabis face multiple charges after police operations in B.C. and Ontario Marc and Jodie Emery, Vancouver's first couple of cannabis, have been arrested as police across the country raided seven of the couple's Cannabis Culture marijuana dispensaries, including a shop on West Hastings and a residence in Vancouver. The Emerys were charged Thursday with drug-related offences in Toronto after raids in Toronto, Hamilton and Vancouver. They are due back in Toronto court this morning. [continues 452 words]
Emerys out on $30Gs bail in wake of pot shop cop raids The "Prince" and "Princess" of pot scored bail of $30,000 each on Friday. Marc and Jodie Emery - who own the Cannabis Culture brand - were arrested at Toronto International Airport Wednesday while travelling to a pot festival in Spain. Police seized $250,000 in cash in several currencies, 65 kilos of marijuana and 2.4 kilos of cannabis extract and other drug paraphernalia after searching seven Cannabis Culture stores - five in Toronto - and several homes Thursday, Toronto Police said. [continues 264 words]
The owners of three London pot shops are among eight people charged in a crackdown on marijuana dispensaries. But a critic said he doubts the charges announced Friday by London police will hold up in court with Canada set to legalize the drug. Five men and three women face a combined 24 counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking following police searches of five marijuana dispensaries across London on March 2. Those charged include Mal McMeekin, 34, the Tasty Budd's franchise founder; Kara Barber, 30, owner of Healing Health; and Charles Colvin, 28, chief executive of the Chronic Hub. [continues 324 words]
The Cannabis Culture marijuana dispensary on Bank Street that was raided by police on Thursday reopened Friday morning. The shop was back in business by 10:30 a.m., according to two people working at nearby businesses on Bank Street near James Street. The Cannabis Culture franchise first opened two weeks ago. Police arrested five men at the shop Thursday morning and charged each of them with five counts of possessing a Schedule II substance for the purpose of trafficking (marijuana, THC oil, THC shatter, hashish and CBD oil) and one count of possessing the proceeds of crime under $5,000. [continues 189 words]
TORONTO - Prominent marijuana activists Marc and Jodie Emery were charged with multiple drug-related offences in Toronto on Thursday after police in several cities raided pot dispensaries associated with the pair. The self-styled "Prince" and "Princess of Pot" were arrested at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Wednesday evening. They appeared briefly in a courtroom on Thursday afternoon before police announced the full list of charges they faced. Marc Emery faces 15 counts, including conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, trafficking, possession for the purpose of trafficking, and possession of proceeds of crime, while Jodie Emery is charged with five similar counts. [continues 312 words]
Marijuana dispensary determined to make pot accessible, regardless of response of law enforcement "We have nothing to hide," Cannabis Culture employee Mat Ferguson said about 30 minutes before Brantford police officers raided the facility for a second time in as many days. After shutting down the Colborne Street West marijuana dispensary and arresting a 36-year-old Stoney Creek man who was charged with two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime on Tuesday night, officers were back at the facility Friday laying charges against four other people. [continues 670 words]
