Liberal CFO could rake in marijuana money with legalization He may volunteer in his role as chief financial officer with the Liberal Party of Canada, but Chuck Rifici is in line for a big pay day, thanks to one of the party's key platforms. Rifici, who has been a member of the Liberal national board of directors since 2011, is also the co-founder of Tweed Marijuana Inc., Canada's biggest full-scale producer of government-sanctioned pot producer, which is based in Smiths Falls, Ont. [continues 986 words]
Elizabeth May says she would legalize and tax marijuana if her party ruled. Legalizing and taxing marijuana? That would generate $2 billion this fiscal year, increasing to $5.4 billion within five years. Free post-secondary tuition for domestic students? A cost of $2 billion a year. And introducing a national dental care program for lowincome youth under age 18? That would cost $1.2 billion the first year, dropping to $913 million in five years. Eliminating direct fossil fuel subsidies would offer a savings of $1.16 billion this year. [continues 420 words]
A small group of marijuana supporters rallied outside Vancouver City Hall on Monday as the deadline approaches for applications to the city's new regime of pot dispensaries. Darcy Delainey, owner of Erbachay Health Centre on Granville Street, knows his storefront is still too close to a nearby school. There are also multiple dispensaries near his location - which the new regulations will prohibit - but Delainey feels it's still worth a shot to apply. The official deadline is Aug. 21. "We're the only (dispensary) with a highway between us - everybody else is actually closer to the school," he said. [continues 182 words]
Guelph member of Parliament Frank Valeriote said he respects anyone who seeks public office. But he seemed to make it clear he saw little value in a perennial electoral rival of his expressing an interest to do just that once again in his riding. When asked about Kornelis Klevering's declaration of interest in running federally in Guelph in the next federal election, the retiring incumbent MP questioned the sensibility of the proposed candidacy. Klevering has run for the Marijuana party in Guelph, against Valeriote, in the previous two federal election campaigns. He says he intends to run here for the party once more. [continues 348 words]
GUELPH - Provided he gets the signatures required for the nomination, Kornelis Klevering plans on running in this fall's federal election under the banner of the Marijuana party. This will be a third attempt for Klevering, having also run in the 2008 and 2011 general elections. Reached for an interview at the Guelph Lawn Bowling Club on Gordon Street Wednesday afternoon, Klevering said he felt the need to throw his hat into the ring once again - there are still a number of issues that need to come forward, he said. [continues 791 words]
It seems the marijuana party has begun, and many people are rolling a joint and smiling broadly. THE ISSUE: Legalizing cannabis COMMENT: We need more research Vancouver has begun regulating its cannabis dispensaries, and the Supreme Court of Canada last week ruled that medical marijuana users can now ingest edible forms of the drug, in addition to being able to smoke it. Marijuana proponents, including dispensary owners who currently operate in a legal grey zone, are high on the excitement that we are in the midst of a societal change. [continues 344 words]
Ottawa Tells City to Enforce the Law; Pot Activists Vow to Fight City's Regulation Effort Vancouver found itself facing a fight on two fronts Tuesday in its efforts to regulate and license marijuana shops. On one hand, the federal government increased its opposition to the city's plans and expressly told the Vancouver Police Department it should enforce Canada's drug laws. On the other, pot activists vowed to fight if the proposed city conditions come into effect. The proposals include $30,000 licensing fees and closing shops near schools and community centres, while allowing them in most commercial districts. [continues 639 words]
Bender awaits sentencing, closes Godiva's It was an experience to remember. While awaiting sentencing on charges of selling marijuana to his customers, Jim Bender, owner of the controversial Woodstock landmark known as Lady Godiva's Adult Emporium on Dundas Street, closed the doors of his shop and moved his family to St. Williams to run Cyclone Gas and Variety. "I want to thank everybody for their huge support. It was an awesome experience," Bender said. "(The move) was an opportunity to take care of Jayden. I couldn't do that here." [continues 397 words]
Marc Emery's downtown office looks exactly the way you'd imagine it would - adorned with bongs, weed art and a visiting cat. No other work setting would be appropriate for an activist who has dedicated his life to libertarianism and drug legalization. Over the past twenty years, Emery has firmly established himself as local celebrity and an international symbol for the legalization of marijuana. After spending just over four years in various US federal prisons for selling marijuana seeds across the border, Emery is now campaigning for the Liberal Party's success in the upcoming elections. Headed by Justin Trudeau, the party has taken an explicitly pro-legalization standpoint. [continues 598 words]
Battle for NDP stronghold with influence over national policies has federal parties salivating Libby Davies's surprise announcement that she's not running in this year's federal election has made Vancouver East one of the most compelling political stories in the country. For the New Democratic Party, their deputy leader's intended departure has prompted a frantic battle for the nomination in one of the safest NDP seats in the country, featuring prominent provincial MLAs Jenny Kwan and Mable Elmore. [continues 1160 words]
Party's 'Green Light' Committee Didn't Say Why They Wouldn't Let Her Name Stand Jodie Emery, the wife of controversial marijuana legalization activist Marc (Prince of Pot) Emery, will not be a Liberal candidate in the next federal election. The party's "green-light" committee sent Emery an email on Friday afternoon that it would not be recommending her as a nomination candidate. "I am disappointed I won't be on the ballot, but I do respect their decision," Emery said, adding that the committee did not give their reasons in the email and she didn't ask for further details. [continues 304 words]
Collection moving to Detroit, while organizer plans 'world-class dispensary' for Vancouver For the last decade, $2.50 would get you a 30-minute tour through the ins and outs of herbal medicine - from the story behind Absinthe to a brief history of magic mushrooms in Canada to ancient cannabis use. But after 10 years in Vancouver, the Herb Museum - billed as a global one-of-a-kind site for scope and accessibility - is closing its doors to make way for a seed sanctuary in the BC Marijuana Party Building. [continues 241 words]
IF Marc Emery is "one of the most influential forces in the modern marijuana legalization movement," the movement should look for some new leaders. That is the obvious conclusion to make after viewing Citizen Marc, the Canadian-made documentary that does little more than give the so-called Prince of Pot a silver-screen soapbox to air his libertarian views on marijuana laws. Emery was released from a Louisiana prison earlier this year after serving most of his five-year sentence for exporting marijuana seeds in 2005 from his Vancouver business to the U.S. The film, directed by Vancouver's Roger Larry, retraces Emery's steps from owning a London, Ont., bookstore at 17 to becoming a perennial candidate for almost any party that will have him, whether it's the Libertarians, the NDP or, of course, the Marijuana party. [continues 307 words]
In light of recent study results, the risks outweigh the benefits Talks regarding the decriminalization of marijuana have been around for many years, but only became mainstream in 2000 with the founding of the Marijuana Party of Canada. For the majority of that time, many believed that a change in the drug's status was a mere pipe dream suited to a fringe group that would never hold any power, real or imagined, in this country. That belief was shattered when Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced he plans to legalize marijuana if he becomes Prime Minister next year. With that in mind, the question has again arisen: Should marijuana be legalized? [continues 494 words]
You have to give Marc Emery credit: After more than four years in a U.S. prison, he can still draw a crowd. Better yet (from his point of view), he can still wrangle the news media. The "Prince of Pot," as journalists and his disciples have dubbed him, has certainly earned that nickname. A native of London, Ont., he has spent most of his adult life championing the cause of cannabis policy reform. He lit joints on the steps of police stations and city halls across the country. He sold marijuana seeds, home-grow books, bongs and other paraphernalia from storefronts in at least two provinces, encouraging others across Canada to do the same. He launched a cannabis-themed magazine. He founded a legal assistance centre for those seeking to challenge existing drug laws. He started Pot-TV, a video channel devoted to marijuana culture and politics. [continues 662 words]
You have to give Marc Emery credit: After more than four years in a U.S. prison, he can still draw a crowd. Better yet (from his point of view), he can still wrangle the news media. The "Prince of Pot," as journalists and his disciples have dubbed him, has certainly earned that nickname. A native of London, Ont., he has spent most of his adult life championing the cause of cannabis policy reform. He lit joints on the steps of police stations and city halls across the country. He sold marijuana seeds, home-grow books, bongs and other paraphernalia from storefronts in at least two provinces, encouraging others across Canada to do the same. He launched a cannabis-themed magazine. He founded a legal assistance centre for those seeking to challenge existing drug laws. He started Pot-TV, a video channel devoted to marijuana culture and politics. [continues 533 words]
Marc Emery may think of himself as a marijuana messiah, leading the longsuffering to deliverance from pot laws they believe unfairly punish them and restrict their freedom to smoke up. No stranger to ego, Emery may even believe he's the chosen cannabis crusader. But Canada's self-styled "Prince of Pot"- just released from a U.S. prison, after doing 4 1/2 years for selling marijuana seeds into the U.S. from Vancouver-makes a poor martyr for the kind of electoral backlash he imagines he will now inspire against the federal Conservative government he vilifies. [continues 289 words]
You have to give Marc Emery credit: After more than four years in a U.S. prison, he can still draw a crowd. Better yet (from his point of view), he can still wrangle the news media. The "Prince of Pot," as journalists and his disciples have dubbed him, has certainly earned that nickname. A native Londoner, he has spent most of his adult life championing the cause of cannabis policy reform. He lit joints on the steps of police stations and city halls across the country. He sold marijuana seed, home-grow books, bongs and other paraphernalia from storefronts in at least two provinces, encouraging others across Canada to do the same. He launched a cannabis-themed magazine. He founded a legal assistance centre for those seeking to challenge existing drug laws. He started Pot-TV, a video channel devoted to marijuana culture and politics. [continues 662 words]
You have to give Marc Emery credit: After more than four years in a U.S. prison, he can still draw a crowd. Better yet (from his point of view), he can still wrangle the news media. The "Prince of Pot," as journalists and his disciples have dubbed him, has certainly earned that nickname. A native of London, Ont., he has spent most of his adult life championing the cause of cannabis policy reform. He lit joints on the steps of police stations and city halls across the country. He sold marijuana seeds, home-grow books, bongs and other paraphernalia from storefronts in at least two provinces, encouraging others across Canada to do the same. He launched a cannabis-themed magazine. He founded a legal assistance centre for those seeking to challenge existing drug laws. He started Pot-TV, a video channel devoted to marijuana culture and politics. [continues 665 words]
