Pot Dispensaries Still Selling Marijuana 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 335 words]
Chief says many not clearly marked with contents in brownies TORONTO - "Genuine" health concerns and "significant" community complaints prompted a string of police raids on unregulated marijuana dispensaries across Toronto, the city's police chief explained Friday after being criticized by a number of residents for the action. Police Chief Mark Saunders emphasized that operation "Project Claudia" would not prevent anyone with a prescription for medical marijuana from accessing the drug. "I want to be very clear about our intentions," he said at a news conference that drew a mix of journalists and marijuana activists. [continues 507 words]
Police 'poorly handled' the event, PR expert says It was meant as a calm follow-up, to showcase drug seizures and justify the raids on pot dispensaries, complete with smashed door glass, of the day before. Instead, Friday's police news conference turned to turmoil as marijuana advocates hurled questions at Chief Mark Saunders while he laid out the figures of "Project Claudia." Officers hit 43 unlicensed marijuana dispensaries across the city Thursday. They slapped criminal charges on 90 dispensary owners and employees and confiscated more than 270 kilograms of pot. Among the spoils were $160,000 in cash, 127 kilograms of oils and spreads, and 142 kilograms of pot-infused cookies. [continues 615 words]
Marijuana advocates decry move as overkill TORONTO * The crackdown on pot dispensaries shows no signs of slowing - - not after Toronto police raided 43 of them in a single lunchtime swoop this week. Police issued a staggering set of charges in Thursday's citywide bust: 186 for possession for the purpose of trafficking and 71 for selling marijuana illegally. They also seized 924 kilograms of marijuana in all its forms, from dried weed, resin and hash to edibles, bars, oils and pills. They took $160,000 in cash. [continues 627 words]
Toronto's police chief defends actions, timing amid protests TORONTO - "Genuine" health concerns and "significant" community complaints prompted a string of police raids on unregulated marijuana dispensaries across Toronto, the city's police chief explained Friday after being criticized by a number of residents for the action. Police Chief Mark Saunders emphasized that the operation - dubbed Project Claudia - would not prevent anyone with a prescription for medical marijuana from accessing the drug. "I want to be very clear about our intentions," Saunders said at a news conference that drew a mix of journalists and marijuana activists. "Project Claudia is not an attack on the lawful production, distribution or purchasing of marijuana for medical purposes. It's the health concern. It is a genuine heath concern, because there is no regulatory process behind it." [continues 536 words]
Thursday's crackdown of 43 Toronto dispensaries is seen as heavy-handed, and some say they'll reopen Despite warnings from Toronto police and city officials that more charges could follow this week's massive pot-dispensary crackdown, some in the marijuana movement vowed that many busted storefronts would simply reopen - and be joined by new ones. Chris Cardozo, whose dispensary in Kensington Market, Toronto Holistic Cannabinoids, was among the 43 raided on Thursday across the city, said he would keep selling his products as long as he could. [continues 955 words]
Prince Of Pot On Mayor's Crackdown Canada's "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery says Mayor John Tory will pay a political price for pushing for a citywide crackdown on marijuana dispensaries. The Toronto Sun spoke with Emery Thursday hours after police raided dozens of dispensaries, seizing weed and shuttering many of the establishments. Here's what he had to say about the crackdown, the dispensaries themselves and Mayor Tory's political future: What is your reaction to this crackdown? "It's unfathomable because marijuana is a very safe substance. These dispensaries meet the demand of citizens who are there voting with their dollars and their feet to buy. There's no harm going on, there's no coercion." [continues 240 words]
For all it's cost him in money and liberty, Canada's voluble "prince of pot," Marc Emery, is still not about to hide his principles - or the light off the joints he sparks - under a bushel. In fact these days, as the federal government prepares to liberalize marijuana laws, are hugely gratifying for the country's best-known pot crusader and have him evangelizing at the same hectic pace. For most of Emery's quarter-century of activism, during which he saw the inside of 34 prisons, jails and institutions, it "looked like progress was moving awful slow for the price one has to pay," he told the Star in a recent interview. [continues 807 words]
Prince of Pot reports on the state of cannabis culture around the world - and why 2016 is a big year for bud - in the lead-up to this weekend's Toronto Global Marijuana March In Canada we're pretty spoiled when it comes to marijuana availability and price. Although we're likely to be the first nation to legalize every aspect of cannabis availability, we're part of a worldwide trend to legitimize and legalize cannabis. Costa Rica legalized medical marijuana on May 1 to go along with efforts already in bloom in that country to industrialize hemp production. [continues 647 words]
Mayor Lisa Helps is unhappy with the opening of a cannabis lounge in Victoria. However, its owner said the new business provides a much-needed service. Helps said she's "not OK" with The Green Ceiling, which provides a public place for pot puffing. She said the city is devising regulations that might put the kibosh on the enterprise, which opened its doors on April 18. The Green Ceiling is the first of its kind in the city, said Ashley Abraham, the 28-year-old owner. While it doesn't sell cannabis, the "vapour lounge" offers a coffee shop-style atmosphere for people wanting to smoke weed publicly. [continues 560 words]
Optimism mixed with thick clouds of pot smoke in downtown Vancouver last year as tens of thousands of people gathered for the annual "4-20" marijuana legalization rally under a massive banner featuring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's face on a rolling paper. But this year, the event's chief organizer, Jodie Emery, says that "inaction" by the newly elected federal Liberals makes the protest "more necessary than ever." "Last summer, I was joking I'm going to be out of work as an activist because we don't have debates anymore, there's no one fighting to keep it illegal," said Ms. Emery, who is the wife of "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery. "But fast forward to today and the mood is different." [continues 367 words]
Jodie Emery Says The Fight To Legalize Weed Is Heating Up Pot advocates in Vancouver have renewed fire in their bellies as the annual 4/20 protest moves to a new site Tuesday amid battles with the city and federal government. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's lack of progress on promised legalization and the City of Vancouver's aggressive regulatory crackdown on marijuana dispensaries (up to 100 businesses could face closure as of next week) means there's plenty to protest about at Sunset Beach, according to organizer Jodie Emery. [continues 456 words]
There's a whiff of change in the air, so to speak, says Grace McGregor. The board chair and Area C director for the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) was speaking about the complex medical marijuana issue often splashed across the country in media headlines. The subject hit home last week when Brian Taylor, a Grand Forks councillor and long time medical cannabis activist, provided insight to the medical marijuana juggernaut in a presentation to regional directors during the Feb. 25 board meeting in Trail. [continues 997 words]
The debate that erupted this week over the relocation of the annual 420 protest has led me to this conclusion: Please, please make marijuana legal as quickly as possible so these people go away. Imagine, no need to gather by the thousands to demonstrate and demand their Jah-given right to get as baked as they please in public. No controversy over licences, permits, locations or smoking on beaches. Everyone can just stay home, order some extra pizza and scroll through Netflix. You may not even watch anything; just scroll. [continues 767 words]
The Kootenay chapter of Women Grow held an educational evening to 'connect, educate, and inspire the next generation of cannabis industry leaders' The Kootenay chapter of Women Grow, a cannabis advocacy organization already established in Vancouver and Toronto, hosted a well-attended educational evening at the Hume Hotel last week, aiming to "connect, educate,inspire and empower the next generation of cannabis industry leaders." "The war on drugs is ridiculous," keynote speaker Jim Leslie of the Kootenays Medicine Tree dispensary in Nelson told the crowd, which consisted of approximately 150 people. A ten-year veteran of Canada Border Services, he was on the frontlines of drug enforcement and was disillusioned by his time there. [continues 911 words]
Just 26 companies in Canada are licensed to grow or sell pot, and Health Canada is carefully controlling who can and cannot enter this changing landscape Is marijuana the next billion-dollar industry in Canada? If you ask people who work at medical-marijuana companies like Tweed and Hydropothecary - which have invested millions of dollars to comply with Health Canada's strict rules governing medical marijuana - the answer is, "we sure hope so." Last month, on Nov. 13, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould a mandate letter asking her to work with the public safety and health ministers to "create a federal-provincial-territorial process that will lead to the legalization and regulation of marijuana." [continues 2324 words]
Federal Liberal Pledge to Make Marijuana Legal Sparks Distribution Ideas TORONTO - Premier Kathleen Wynne says it would "make a lot of sense" for Ontario's government-run liquor stores to sell marijuana if the federal Liberals make good on their promise to legalize pot. The new federal government's throne speech this month included a pledge to "legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana," following up on a pledge by Justin Trudeau's Liberals. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario, which has 650 stores and a virtual monopoly on alcohol sales, has the experience and expertise to sell legalized marijuana in a responsible way, Wynne said Monday. [continues 390 words]
As B.C.'s largest union and the province's liquor stores join to pitch a plan to sell legal pot in booze outlets, critics warn it'll lead to a marijuana monopoly The ballots were barely counted on federal election night when British Columbia's largest union began planning its pitch to sell legal marijuana in liquor stores. "On Oct. 19, after the election results, that's when we first started having informal conversations about it with our senior staff," said Stephanie Smith, president of the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union. [continues 807 words]
Throne speech vow first urged in 1972 OTTAWA - It has taken more than 40 years, but the government of Canada is finally formally committing to legalizing marijuana. Gov. Gen. David Johnston delivered the governing priorities of Justin Trudeau's Liberals in the speech from the throne Friday, including a pledge to "legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana." The Liberals promised to legalize pot more than a year ago, prompting a months-long barrage of Conservative attack ads in multiple languages that asserted the move would make marijuana readily available to children through sales at corner stores. [continues 459 words]
The Vancouver Sun's Tiffany Crawford looks at five priorities in B.C. that Justin Trudeau has promised to tackle as prime minister: 1. MARIJUANA The Liberals have promised to legalize marijuana for recreational use, arguing that too many young Canadians end up with criminal records for possessing small amounts of the drug. Trudeau has not said how soon legalization will happen because first the government will need to figure out how to tax and regulate weed. He said it could take a year or two before it is made legal. Legalization has been a hot election topic in Vancouver, home to Prince of Pot and legalization activist Marc Emery, who spent five years in a U.S. prison for selling marijuana seeds on the Internet. This year's annual 4/20 legalization rally drew an estimated 20,000 people to downtown Vancouver. [continues 126 words]
