‘We will not back down’: cannabis merchant

The day after Marc and Jodie Emery were arrested by Toronto police, B.C.-based cannabis advocates and business people said they expect the retail bud business to continue as usual in Vancouver.

Jeremy Jacob, the Vancouverbased head of a national industry association for dispensaries said Thursday their members “have a good relationship” with the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Police Department, “and we expect that to continue.”

“We value the position the VPD has taken during this transition to a regulated market,” said Ja- cob, president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries and owner of The Village Dispensary near Vancouver’s Granville Island.

None of the Emerys’ businesses are members of his association, he said.

Like the Emerys, Donald Briere is a longtime and high-profile B.C. cannabis advocate turned national business operator. He appreciates the Vancouver police’s approach to dispensaries, which has traditionally been less aggressive than the Toronto police behind this week’s arrests and charges of the Emerys and three Cannabis Culture associates.

Briere, whose company Weeds Glass & Gifts runs 18 retail locations across Canada, said the Toronto police actions represent “a colossal waste of tax resources.” He does not believe Vancouver police will alter their approach to dispensaries, despite the local department’s execution of search warrants for Toronto police.

“We will not back down,” Briere said.

“We’re not changing ... This only makes us more determined.”

Similarly, Dana Larsen, who runs the Vancouver Dispensary Society and has known Marc Emery since the 1990s, said: “These raids are not going to stop the dispensary move- ment. ... There’s more dispensaries in Canada now than ever before.”

By the scheduled 10 a.m. Thursday opening of Emery’s Cannabis Culture dispensary at 512 Beatty St., there was no police at the shop, but store manager William Austin said he was keeping the location closed temporarily that morning, following the raids at other locations, and awaiting instructions for when to reopen.

At the Cannabis Culture outlet at 1674 Davie St., doors also remained locked Thursday morning. But by early afternoon, they had opened and were conducting business as usual, said a man who answered the phone there.

Jason Tarnow, a Richmondbased criminal lawyer, said Thursday after reviewing the charges: “I’d go on record saying it’s extremely heavy handed, and it’s so perplexing because we’re so close to legalization.”

“On the face of the charges, they are serious. However, it will be interesting to see how they are dealt with by the courts considering the near-legal status of cannabis,” he said. “One has to question the huge expense to the taxpayers for today’s cross-jurisdictional, multi-police department, co-ordinated and lengthy investigation. One has to also question the public interest in such an expensive investigation — and whether there is really a public appetite for it anymore.”