Cannabis Culture reopens after raid, while Trent University business student prepares to open another marijuana store Peterborough's marijuana store, Cannabis Culture, reopened Tuesday morning, with city police announcing that the opening has their attention. The shop was closed Sept. 15, days after it opened, when city police raided it and removed its products. Two people, store owner Richard Standen and employee Maranda Gallant, were arrested. Standen, 62, of Wecker Drive in Oshawa, was charged with trafficking marijuana, possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime. [continues 433 words]
The windows at Cannabis Culture on George St. N. were found sprayed with graffiti Tuesday morning, but supporters cleaned it up as a courtesy to the pot shop owner. Cannabis Culture has been closed since a police raid last Thursday. Store owner Richard Standen spent Friday night in jail, and is now out on bail. On Tuesday morning, he rode by in a cab and noticed the graffiti. Someone sprayed the word "Leave" in black paint on both the front and side windows, and also painted a huge red X across the front door. [continues 253 words]
Richard Standen, the owner of the Cannabis Culture at 382 George St. in downtown Peterborough, walked away from court on bail Friday afternoon after being arrested in a city police raid Thursday. Standen didn't say whether he's reopening the store. But he said outside the Ontario Court of Justice on Simcoe Street that he still believes anyone should be able to use pot. "I'm a firm believer - my beliefs don't change," Standen said. Standen was arrested around the noon hour Thursday after city police executed a Controlled Drugs and Substance Act search warrant at the store. [continues 290 words]
'Prince of Pot' says his new dispensary has five-year lease Marc Emery, the marijuana dispensary owner dubbed the "Prince of Pot," says his landlord is trying to evict him from his new Church St. store. On Friday morning Emery was live-streaming and posting videos of police and his landlord's representative gathering outside of his Toronto business, Cannabis Culture. "I think he (the landlord) is definitely responsible for calling the cops," said Emery on a video posted on his Facebook page, taken inside the store as police gathered outside. [continues 409 words]
Drama erupted Friday morning inside and outside the latest Cannabis Culture store to open in Toronto. Around half a dozen Toronto Police officers were on site, according to Marc Emery - the so-called Prince of Pot is a well-known figure in Canada's marijuana industry and advocacy community. The presence of the officers prompted Emery to begin live-streaming on Facebook from inside the empty store, with the doors locked. "There's a siege going on essentially, there are police officers literally surrounding the building," he said, to reporters and camera people he let in at one point. [continues 91 words]
Prince of Pot Marc Emery urges defiant London dispensary to hang tough in showdown with police Be ready to do jail time. That's the message the formerly imprisoned Marc Emery, Canada's most famous marijuana crusader, delivered to a London pot shop that's become the local flashpoint in the shifting ground on Canada's pot laws. The Prince of Pot paid an unexpected visit to Tasty Budd's Friday, throwing his support behind the Wharncliffe Road marijuana dispensary i n what's become its high-profile showdown with city police. [continues 578 words]
Police say they were just enforcing the law when they raided an illegal pot shop days after it opened, but at least two other dispensaries have long operated in London without any crackdowns. Why police moved to shut down Tasty Budd's, when other dispensaries still quietly operate, is one question that emerged in the fallout Thursday, but police weren't providing any immediate answers. Officers descended on Tasty Budd's on Wharncliffe Road Wednesday, seizing more than $13,000 in marijuana products and charging the store's franchisee and an employee with drug-related offences. [continues 578 words]
For several years, cannabis researchers have been zeroing in on the health benefits of a marijuana extract known as cannabidiol, a.k.a. CBD. It's long been believed that CBD does not get people stoned, unlike the plant's psychoactive and better-known extract, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. And it has been argued that this helps patients who might be seeking relief from pain and other conditions but who don't want to get high every time they take their medication. [continues 839 words]
The thousands of Canadians who buy their cannabis from illegal dispensaries still have no assurance their products are safe from contaminants or as potent as advertised, even though Ottawa is changing its rules on the testing of medical marijuana. Changes announced on Thursday that take effect on Aug. 24 will allow registered home growers to take their products for testing at a handful of laboratories that are accredited by Health Canada. Under the new system, patients whose doctors authorize them to grow medical marijuana will be able to pay for tests to find out how much of the psychoactive compound THC is in their crop and ensure it is free of harmful pesticides and contaminants such as mould or bacteria. [continues 669 words]
Ottawa says it's dangerous. Dispensaries say it's safe. The Globe subjected unregulated weed to a battery of tests to find the truth Inside a sterile facility, the lab technician holds up a petri dish to show the intricate pattern of bacteria that are quickly multiplying. "Looks like something is already growing," she says, surprised by how much has amassed in less than a day and a half. In any other context, the dish would be a sight to behold, with an attractive swirl of shapes that resembles an oil painting. But the bacteria growing inside are Citrobacter freundii, a human pathogen that can lead to serious infections, particularly in the elderly and weak. [continues 6688 words]
Vancouver Activist Defies Marijuana Bylaws They are ubiquitous, still. Marijuana dispensaries, ranging in style from pristine to slightly scary to plain sad, continue to offer illicit products in Vancouver, despite an expensive effort by city officials to limit their number with rules and enforcement provisions unique in Canada. The pot shop bylaws, which came into effect this year, are supposed to stop cannabis impresarios from operating with typical impunity, dealing products near schools and community centres, and at all hours. Dispensaries began to proliferate in Vancouver about four years ago, when police quit trying to enforce federal prohibitions on retail marijuana sales. By 2015, no fewer than 100 illegal dispensaries were in business. [continues 571 words]
Two of the most well-known cannabis activists in the country were in town today to help a local dispensary in their fight to remain open. Marc and Jodie Emery each took the stage at Spirit Square this afternoon to profess their appreciation for what WeeMedical is undergoing right now - which they say is nothing short of police harassment - and to celebrate cannabis in all its forms. Joel Wilson, operator of WeeMedical, who organized what was called the "Rally for Reasonable Access," says the point of the event was mainly to educate, but he also wanted to make it known that, despite being raided by the RCMP numerous times since opening up shop three months ago - most recently on June 30 - they're not going anywhere. [continues 964 words]
The "Prince and Princess of Pot" will be in Campbell River to attend an information session July 20 in support of local marijuana dispensary Wee Medical and the issue of "reasonable access" to medical marijuana. The event will be attended by legalization activists Jodie and Marc Emery and comes on the heels of a second raid of the local marijuana dispensary. On June 30, the Campbell River Street Crime Unit executed a second search warrant at a business front in the 800 block of 13th Ave. In a press release, Campbell River RCMP said an investigation led by the Street Crime Unit revealed that the storefront continues to allegedly sell marijuana, marijuana extract and marijuana edibles to the public. [continues 413 words]
A festival celebrating marijuana will take place this weekend just east of Orillia, but details about the event remain somewhat hazy. Called Budstock 2016, the three-day event presented by Cannabispreneurs Production International (CPI) Promotions promises a range of activities along with live performances at a private farm location in Ramara Township. "It's a private show," said CPI founder Trevor Herbz, who declined to confirm whether that's his real last name or just a clever play on the pointy, leafed plant at the centre of the event that begins Friday and is free to CPI members. [continues 310 words]
Re "Marc Emery re-opens pot shop one day after raid" (June 25): Let's stop blaming the deadheads for trying to be enterprising by growing and selling their own weed. They don't think straight at the best of times. Justin Trudeau needs to wear this one, he let the genie out of the bottle, then does nothing to bring closure. Now we have anarchy on the streets. Let's quit taking selfies and deal with this issue now, since it was so damn important on the campaign trail. Quit downloading the burden onto local governments and police who are left to enforce a mess their federal leadership dropped on their lap. Alain Fournier Brampton ('Anarchy on the streets' is overstating it. Other than that, agreed) [end]
The Prince of Pot is calling for marijuana dispensaries to be governed under the same rules as food and plant businesses. Marc Emery flew to Toronto for the reopening of his Cannabis Culture franchise location on Queen St. W. Friday morning - a day after Toronto Police raided the business. "We don't believe it should have any more regulations than cucumbers or coffee or flowers," Emery said. "Every single Canadian who has a passion for marijuana should be entitled to go into business and serve the public and serve the demand." [continues 263 words]
Marc Emery Re-Opens Pot Shop One Day After Raid The Prince of Pot is calling for marijuana dispensaries to be governed under the same rules as food and plant businesses. Marc Emery flew to Toronto for the reopening of his Cannabis Culture franchise location on Queen St. W. Friday morning - a day after Toronto Police raided the business. "We don't believe it should have any more regulations than cucumbers or coffee or flowers," Emery said. "Every single Canadian who has a passion for marijuana should be entitled to go into business and serve the public and serve the demand." [continues 261 words]
The Prince of Pot is calling for marijuana dispensaries to be governed under the same rules as food and plant businesses. Marc Emery flew to Toronto for the reopening of his Cannabis Culture franchise location on Queen St. W. Friday morning - a day after Toronto Police raided the business. "We don't believe it should have any more regulations than cucumbers or coffee or flowers," Emery said. "Every single Canadian who has a passion for marijuana should be entitled to go into business and serve the public and serve the demand." [continues 264 words]
The hits keep coming for Toronto's pot shops. Cops raided four marijuana dispensaries on Thursday - the blitz comes almost one month after Toronto Police raided dozens of shops across the city. And Chief Mark Saunders delivered a blunt warning to any Hogtown bud businesses still operating when asked about these latest raids. "It's an ongoing investigation. I've never minced my words," Saunders said. "This is a result of what I said. If you have a dispensary open, your chances of going to court and being charged are very high, so I highly recommend that you stop." [continues 278 words]
Cannabis Culture Refuses To Be Bullied By Police Raids Pot advocates remain defiant after last week's police raids of weed shops with one Toronto dispensary even vowing to sell marijuana for recreational purposes. Cannabis Culture, 801 Queen St. W., flung open its doors on Friday - one day after police targeted 43 medical marijuana dispensaries in Toronto. "We do not want to force people to be sick or to fake illness or to pay a doctor for permission to access cannabis," said Jodie Emery, a spokesman for the Cannabis Culture brand. [continues 347 words]
