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Web Dealer Ships Pot To Customers' Doorsteps
Tracknum: 15239.001c01c49e37.5fbc91c0.5e1179d1
Pubdate: Sun, 19 Sep 2004
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2004 The Province
Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Jon Ferry, The Province
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)
WEB DEALER SHIPS POT TO CUSTOMERS' DOORSTEPS
Coal Harbour-Linked 'Bud Buddy' Has Been Mailing Out 'World-Class' Pot For
More Than a Year
Canada Post has said it will investigate a Vancouver-based marijuana
mail-order business that provides "fast, discreet" service to those
declaring they suffer from one of a host of medical ailments.
Canada Post spokesman John Caines said it would be up to police to say
whether the postal pot operation, called Bud Buddy, was breaking the law.
But Canada Post would probe its use of the national mail service.
"I'll bring it up to our legal people and they'll advise us on what we're
going to do then," John Caines said from Ottawa. "We're going to look into it."
B.C. Solicitor-General Rich Coleman, meanwhile, said yesterday he hoped
police would launch their own investigation into what seemed to be simply
another illegal way of selling an illegal drug.
"My expectations are no different on this than it would have been on the Da
Kine cafe," he told The Province. "If law enforcement is made aware of
something that's illegal, my expectation is that it would be investigated
and the laws of the country would be enforced."
Vancouver's Da Kine pot cafe closed last week following the arrest of owner
Carol Gwilt and seven employees on marijuana trafficking charges.
Bud Buddy (www.budbuddy.biz) has been in business since August of last
year. It describes itself as "Canada's premium mail-order marijuana
delivery service."
It claims to provide "world-class marijuana" -- ranging from California
Orange to Jamaican Sugar and Durban Poison -- that is "always clean,
well-cured, tasty and potent."
On its website, it offers three grams of bud for $35, seven for $70, 14 for
$130 and 28 for $250.
Bud Buddy ships only in Canada. It tells customers to order only via
regular mail or Canada Post Xpresspost, sending cash or a money order (plus
$10 for shipping) to a postal box in upscale Coal Harbour.
Dana Larsen, editor of Cannabis Culture Magazine, said yesterday he could
recommend Bud Buddy (one of three marijuana mail-order websites he knew of)
as reliable and honest. But he wouldn't reveal the name of the person
operating it.
"He's a Vancouver person who decided this would be a good way to get
marijuana to people who need it," Larsen said.
A Province e-mail inquiry Friday confirmed Bud Buddy was still in business.
"All is well," he replied. "I look forward to your order." However, we were
unable to get a response yesterday to a request for an interview.
Marijuana is an illegal drug in Canada, and its sale or possession is
outlawed except for federally sanctioned medicinal purposes.
On its order form, Bud Buddy asks customers to certify they are over 18 and
suffer from one of a long list of "applicable ailments" cannabis is said to
relieve or treat.
The list includes everything from "anorexia" to "mood swings," from
"constipation" to "panic disorder" and from "cocaine dependence" to "loss
of appetite."
However, Caines pointed out that, unless authorized by Health Canada,
medical marijuana is not supposed to be shipped through the mail. "They
would have to be sanctioned under Health Canada before they could do this,"
he said.
Caines said that both grower and recipient need Health Canada approval and
the marijuana has to be prescribed by a doctor.
Bud Buddy says orders are shipped securely and discreetly. "I use
vacuum-sealing to eliminate smell," Bud Buddy notes.
Judging by glowing Internet testimonials, Bud Buddy delivers what it
promises. For example, "Smoking and Smiling in Ontario!" posted a message
on a Cannabis Culture web forum describing what he received as "great bud
delivered to my door by Canada Post."
Vancouver city police spokesman Const. Sarah Bloor said she wasn't aware of
Bud Buddy, and was unable to reach the drug squad for comment.
But Chris Bennett, manager of Pot-TV.net, said he hadn't heard any
complaints about Bud Buddy, though he himself had never used it. "Most
people around here wouldn't, because it's just so easy to get marijuana
anyways, right, that we would never bother mail-ordering off anybody," he said.
Hanif Shamji, owner of Georgia Post Plus, where the Bud Buddy postal box is
located, declined comment. But he pointed to a sign showing that small
boxes rent for $12.50 a month, or $125 a year.