Emerys in jail after pot shop raids
‘Prince’ and ‘Princess of Pot’ face several drug-related charges after Toronto arrest
Marc and Jodie Emery, Vancouver’s first couple of cannabis, have been arrested, as police across the country raided seven of the couple’s Cannabis Culture marijuana dispensaries, including a shop on West Hastings and a residence in Vancouver.
The Emerys were charged Thursday with drug-related offences in Toronto, after raids in Toronto, Hamilton and Vancouver. They are due back in Toronto court this morning.
The self-styled “Princess of Pot” were arrested Wednesday as they went to board a plane at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport for a cannabis expo in Spain.
Marc Emery faces 15 counts, including conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, trafficking, possession for the purpose of trafficking, and possession of proceeds of crime. Jodie Emery is charged with five similar counts.
The pair are accused of trafficking marijuana between last May 27 and this Thursday, according to an indictment in a Toronto court. The Emerys are also alleged, between last May 27 and this Thursday, to have conspired to commit an indictable offence “by entering into an agreement to run a franchise whose main purpose is the traf- ficking of controlled substances.”
They are alleged to have committed conspiracy in B.C., Ontario, and Quebec, where Cannabis Culture has opened more than 15 dispensaries and lounges. The Emerys own the Cannabis Culture brand, which is used by 19 marijuana dispensaries in those provinces.
The arrests and raids were a Toronto police operation, spokesman Mark Pugash said, that included the execution of 11 search warrants under the Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and the arrests of five people.
On Thursday morning, a dozen Vancouver police officers, acting for Toronto police, raided the Cannabis Culture headquarters on West Hastings Street. Pugash said search warrants were also executed Thursday at three Cannabis Culture stores in Toronto and one in Hamilton. Four warrants were executed at residences in Toronto, the Hamilton area, and in Vancouver.
Three others were charged. Chris Goodwin, 37, and Erin Goodwin, 31, both of Toronto, and Britney Guerra, 29, of Stoney Creek, Ont., face charges that include conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.
B.C. solicitor general Mike Morris said he is worried that the federal promise of decriminalization of marijuana has confused the public, as it remains illegal.
“The law is the law, so if somebody is breaking the law, the police need to take whatever action they deem necessary,” he said. “The sooner the feds come out with the legislation the sooner we can get on determining what direction we need to go.”
Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott said Thursday that her government remains committed to introducing legislation on the matter this spring.
Victoria cannabis lawyer Kirk Tousaw called the raids and arrests the “latest salvo in Canada’s senseless war on cannabis.”
“That we continue to waste resources and ruin lives in the pursuit of the futile goals of cannabis prohibition is immoral and a national disgrace,” he said.
The Emerys’ chain sells to anyone aged 19 and over, without membership or medical requirements. They also sell pot paraphernalia — pipes, vaporizers and other products — on their Cannabis Culture website.
Karina Smeds, a host at the Cannabis Culture lounge on Hastings in Vancouver, arrived at work at around 9 a.m. to find the doors locked. She was distraught.
“It’s more than just a business because it’s a place that people have been coming ... to get away from what’s happening in the Downtown Eastside,” Smeds said. “It’s just safe. And I’m so worried.”
Melissa Zorn, manager at the Hastings Street Cannabis Culture, said 14 or 15 people work there.
Marc Emery is no stranger to the legal system, having been arrested numerous times over the years for pot-related offences. He served more than four years in a U.S. prison for selling marijuana seeds across the border from Vancouver.
Vancouver cannabis advocate and dispensary owner Dana Larsen, the former editor of Emery’s Cannabis Culture magazine, said Thursday: “I feel like we’re stuck back in the 1990s.”
“Back then they were raiding us for bong shops,” he said. “The same thing is happening, and it’s worth remembering that every step of the way, it’s been the police and the courts and the government that have stepped down. … We’re winning the civil disobedience campaign and, I believe, that’s why we’re on the verge of cannabis legalization.”