May
26
Community GMMs — Cranbrook Global Marijuana March

The first Global Marijuana March was started by Dana Beal in New York, USA in 1998. It raised awareness both of the harms of prohibition throughout the world and how it should end. It has now grown to over 900 worldwide participating cities — as a festival in some places — and is celebrated by millions.

Community GMMs

But not everyone lives in large cities. Sometimes your town doesn’t have a GMM. Sometimes you live in a place that isn’t pro-pot. What do you do then? Start your own community GMMs. I did … twice!

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May
19
O’Cannabiz — the United States of Cannabiz

“If the only green at your cannabis conference or event is dollar bills, it ain’t no cannabis event.” Chris Bennett, Cannabis Historian.

I always think of 4/20 as the beginning of the “High Holidays” in the cannabis industry. It usually marks the beginning of cannabis protests, cannabis festivals, cannabis cups, cannabis fundraisers, cannabis boat cruises, and of course cannabis conferences. 2017 has proven to the busiest year yet with conferences and events planned all across Canada this summer. And it started in Toronto with the O’Cannabiz Conference and Expo, April 21st to the 23rd.

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May
12
MUFF‘n’PUFF: Twelve High Chicks Meets The MUFF Society

Did you know the stoner-classic, Dave Chappelle film Half Baked was directed by a woman? Her name is Tamra Davis.

As an avid stoner, film buff, and feminist I’m ashamed to say I didn’t. Luckily, a local organization set me right.

MUFF‘n’PUFF

In early April I entered a contest run by my favourite local Toronto bakery. The amazing Glory Hole Doughnuts, owned and operated by bad-ass baker Ashley Jacot De Boinod, was raffling off tickets on Instagram to “MUFF‘n’PUFF”, a theatre screening of Half Baked presented by The MUFF Society.

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May
05
Legal Lies: Liberals Drop the Ball on Legalization

After taking a few days to digest the Liberals new Cannabis Act — all 131 pages of it — and then taking several more days to get over my initial anger and disbelief, it became pretty clear to me what happened. Justin Trudeau and some of his buddies were sitting around one night enjoying some wine, or perhaps some reefer, and someone joked “Why don’t we run the cannabis market?” And everyone laughed, but then the idea of just how to do it took hold.

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Apr
28
Legal Weed Must Forgive Cannabis Convictions

The future of recreational legal weed in Canada seems inevitable, if still too limited. While activists chafe at the regulations, the hope remains that a new legal market will make the industry better. But better for whom? Not for most people with cannabis convictions who were instrumental in pushing for legalization.

The “Cannabis Act” is still a vague and confusing document; it’s impossible to know what the government intends. From industrial farming to craft growers, the Liberals claim to see them all having a place. But who will actually grow when a “reasonable suspicion” of having broken a cannabis law is enough to deny a licence? Not the cannabis community.

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Apr
21
4/20 2017 — This Legalisation Ain’t Right

4/20 2017 was a unique day in Canada. Just a week after the federal Liberals revealed legislation for recreational marijuana, we should have only been celebrating. Instead, advocates and activists were also protesting the ridiculous restrictions this bill introduces. It treats marijuana as more dangerous than alcohol and tobacco, encourages a big-business oligarchy, and won’t protect kids or drive out organized crime.

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Apr
14
Craft Cannabis Questions in the Kootenays

The East and West Kootenays in British Columbia have been at the forefront of craft cannabis growing for decades in Canada. With the new regulations ahead, what will they mean for this area and its growers?  

The Kootenays and Craft Cannabis Growers

After a Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, March 14th with our MP, Wayne Stetski (NDP), it was loud and clear that the regulations the Liberals are pushing forward will not work for this area.

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Apr
07
Opus 420 Critiques the 2017 M.O.M. Cup

The last weekend of February this year saw the emergence of a new cannabis competition: the M.O.M. Cup. It was held in beautiful Vancouver, BC — Canada’s cannabis hotspot — in a smaller, private venue over three days. As someone who has attended close to twenty different cannabis competitions and events over my lifetime I’ve seen it all. Or so I thought. More on that later….

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Mar
31
What is the Point of Legal Pot?

Harmless plant, better than the alternative, threat to children, cash crop…. With so many viewpoints, which should dominate the discussion of cannabis in Canada? What is the reason to grow — and legalize — marijuana in our country? What’s the point of legal pot? 

When the Toronto Police Services (TPS) pulled off Project Gator, they were making a statement. I objected to the restriction of the nascent free market already established. The one that could guide the government through recreational legalization. But a reader reminded me that the government never promised a free market. They won based on a promise of regulation and restriction. To remove profits from organized crime and keep marijuana out of the hands of children. 

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Mar
24
Toronto’s Dispensary Robberies: The Latest Legalization Challenge

When you’ve been a cannabis activist for well over a decade, the only time you expect to hear your name dropped at a police press conference it will be followed by the words “has been charged with.”

On a morning in late January, I was drinking coffee and watching a Toronto Police Services press conference. I was getting agitated by the misinformation as they spoke in regards to a rash of recent violent dispensary robberies in the city. And then, I was surprised to hear my name mentioned.

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