HEMP, HEMP HOORAY
Howie Centre shop sells medical marijuana products
Howie Centre shop sells medical marijuana products.
When you walk into Island Hemp don’t let the shelves of bongs and vapes trick you into thinking this is a regular hemp shop.
The Howie Centre shop opened in August and it is the second Island Hemp in Cape Breton — the first was opened in 2012 by Beryl Tyrrell. Her son Mike Tyrrell, who operates the Howie Centre location, said he opened it after seeing the positive benefits medical marijuana products can have on cancer patients.
In 2011, Tyrell’s grandfather, was diagnosed with cancer. He used both THC oil and CBD oil for pain and Tyrrell believes his grandfather’s life was extended because of the products.
This is why Island Hemp sells CBD oil, without THC, at their locations. It is legal to sell pure CBD oil in Canada because there are no psychoactive properties.
Tyrrell, 35, said the store has regular customers for the CBD oil products since opening in September, even though he does little advertising about them.
“There are seven or eight people who come in regularly to get the CBD oil,” Tyrell said during an interview in the store.
“One lady got it for her dog. Mike Tyrrell, 35, stands outside his store, Island Hemp, in Howie Centre. There is another location of the hemp retail outlet in Port Hawkesbury that sells hemp products, cookbooks and CBD oil.
Then when she came back a second time, she asked if she could take it. Now I think she also has her husband taking it, too.”
Tyrrell younger stepbrother also died of cancer when he was only 21. Tyrrell was close to his stepbrother and tears come to his eyes when he talks
about how he came home from Calgary when his brother was diagnosed at 19.
Tyrrell opened two medical marijuana dispensaries called Nova Buds in 2017, next to the Island Hemp locations, even though he knew he was taking a risk because medical marijuana was legal but the dispensary
side was not. People accessing his service had to have a Health Canada-issued medical marijuana licenses, but he was still raided by police at both locations.
He pled guilty to one charge in exchange for having the other charges dropped because legal costs were too high for a
lengthy court proceeding. He is currently serving a conditional sentence where he can work and is on house arrest. He plans to apply for a pardon as soon as cannabis is legalized.
Island Help has no THC products at the location and Tyrell said they added bongs, vapes and cannabis merchandise because customers asked.
He said he is dedicated to anything that helps medical marijuana users and has a stock of the lock boxes that will be required for storage of cannabis at home and on the road.
“I’ve had cops pull me over, check my box and say, ‘You are the only person we’ve seen who has it stored properly,’” said Tyrrell, who is a medical marijuana patient for pain in his knee due to structural damage from a car accident when he was 11.
Island Hemp is one of the only places that sells CBD oil over the counter in Cape Breton and their product is Canadianmade and produced.
Tyrrell hopes to eventually expand the business and get into making and producing a brand of CBD oil locally.