‘Prince of Pot’ accused of sexual harassment
Emery admits being ‘touchy’ but denies ever having sex with anyone underage
Marc Emery, once hailed as the “Prince of Pot,” has come under fire after several women came forward with allegations of sexual harassment against him only days before three of the Cannabis Culture dispensaries he helped start in Vancouver plan to close their doors.
The alleged incidents were made public on Twitter by Deidre Olsen, who was offered a job at Cannabis Culture in 2008, but did not take it. Emery owned Cannabis Culture in downtown Vancouver at the time, although ownership was eventually transferred to his wife Jodie Emery in 2009.
In an interview Thursday, Olsen said she was traumatized by sexually suggestive emails sent to her by Emery in the past.
“They made me feel weird,” she said. “I was always so worried that my mom or my boyfriend would walk in and see these creepy emails from a man who was 50, so I would delete them really quickly.”
Now a journalist living in Toronto, Olsen alleges Emery made unwanted sexual advances toward her when she was 17 and spending time at Cannabis Culture. She claimed it was common for Emery to invite girls as young as 15 to sit on his lap and smoke marijuana at the shop.
Olsen described Cannabis Culture as an old boys club where middle-aged men worked with vulnerable teenage girls and young women.
Olsen said many of the young women were homeless or from poor backgrounds and desperately needed the job.
“I was lucky. I came from a good home and had a very loving mother who pulled me out of (Cannabis Culture).”
Olsen never went to police and none of the allegations have been tested in court.
On Twitter, Olsen also published several accounts of alleged sexual harassment written by unnamed women. A HuffPost story published Thursday contained similar allegations made by another woman.
In a Facebook post late Wednesday, the self-described Prince of Pot denied he harmed anyone, but admitted he is a “touchy” guy who doesn’t always get it right when speaking openly about sex. In the post, Emery said he has lived a “very outspoken, provocative, possibly even outrageous life” and has offended many people. He added that he is sexually outspoken, but denied that he ever had sex with anyone underage.
Emery claimed he was affectionate with Olsen but never asked her for sex while she was at Cannabis Culture.
“I regret Deidre finds the experience now traumatizing. To you Deidre, I’m sorry I went out of bounds and the experience has become unpleasant. It was immature of me and bad judgment, but I only ever felt positive and glad to know you in our correspondence.”
Emery, who has been living in Toronto, said he and his wife have been separated for more than a year and only lived together for two-and-ahalf years since they were married in 2006. Emery served five years in a U.S. prison for selling marijuana seeds on the internet.
In the Facebook post, he also lamented the harm he may have caused Jodie Emery with his actions and apologized.
Postmedia reached out to both Marc and Jodie Emery, but did not receive a reply.