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Jodie Emery fought the law and the law won.

At least, that’s the short version of how things went down when Emery and her husband Marc tried to open five illegal marijuana dispensaries in Montreal last December.

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Hours after the dispensaries’ carnival-like grand opening, the Emerys were in handcuffs and police shut down all of their storefronts. Though Emery had escaped the initial crackdown, undercover officers caught up to her at a downtown hotel.

“I was getting to my room when these guys in plain clothes ran over and said, ‘Hey, Jodie, can we get a photo?'” Emery said. “I expected one of them to pull out a cellphone but he pulled out a pair of handcuffs instead.”

Photo by Chris Young / THE CANADIAN PRESS

As someone who has battled against Canada’s marijuana laws for years, it might seem only logical that Emery would embrace the Liberal government’s legislation to legalize recreation weed by summer 2018. But Emery is skeptical.

“The whole legalization process is being guided by (former Toronto police chief) Bill Blair, a man who fought against marijuana for years,” she said. “You’re putting the fox in charge of the hen house.”