CANNABIS CULTURE – After a long and very tiring day sitting at Old City Hall in Toronto (again) waiting for members of my canna-family to be released from jail (again) I have decided enough is enough!

I’m sure that I speak for hundreds if not thousands of Canadians by saying we are tired of you! We are tired of being bullied, pressured and arrested because you have more money and political power. We are tired of putting countless hours into our small businesses wondering everyday if today will be the day we see inside of a jail cell. We have dedicated our lives and our freedom to marijuana legalization in Canada! We should be thanked for paving the way to allow medicinal and recreational marijuana, not being forced out. You are the bullies on the playground, and we are done being pushed around by you.

Due to countless arrests, court cases, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawyers fees, Canadians are getting the marijuana access they rightfully deserve. Due to the hard work, self sacrifice and dedication of myself and my peers marijuana has become easily available across Canada. We have created a billion-dollar industry stretching from sea to sea. People have dedicated decades of their lives (and freedom) to get this industry out of the closet and into the open where it belongs.

I question your motives. Why are you so threatened by dispensaries? I’m sure you have more then enough customers to keep your ship afloat, why do you try and sink everyone else? Why do you try and sway the media and public opinion about us? Making us appear to be hardened criminals that are trying to poison people with our “non-tested” products? Why are you forcing seed banks out by making people buy their seeds specifically from you? Do you not comprehend they were illegal in the first place? Where do you think the genetics you have came from? Hopefully you thank the great seed smugglers of the 90’s for all of their hard work. Instead of attempting to push us out, why not embrace the people who built this industry and allow us to buy our stock for our dispensaries and seed stores from you?

I do not understand your need for full corporate take over of the marijuana industry. Craft beer and wine is made by many small companies across this country, and sold in their private establishments like bars and restaurants. Why can’t we do the same? Why is it that I have dozens of your unsatisfied customers lining up at my dispensary everyday if my “non-tested” product is inferior to yours? Why are you – and the government you are lobbying – forcing patients who ingest marijuana via edibles to find another method? Give people the freedom to choose! You are creating chaos among our people for what? To line your pockets a little more? If you are reading this from your corporate office of rich mahogany and leather-bound books with a malicious smirk on your face, give your head a shake. To think that we will give up a battle after fighting this long you, must be delusional.

There are hundreds of dispensaries across Canada selling to thousands of satisfied customers everyday. We have more options, better product and more knowledgeable staff then any computer or iPad-run company will ever have. I see the need to support my patients everyday. I hear their stories about how we are helping improve their lives for the better whether it be our product, or the fact they are able to come to our storefront to look at, smell and be informed about their medicine.

You run out of your products regularly. Five minutes ago I had one of your patients in my dispensary because an unnamed LP ran out of CBD/THC oil to treat her cancer. We have the products she requires, and I supplied it to her free of cost because of her immediate need. While you may think your websites and mail order programs offer the help that patients require, you are indeed mistaken.

Let the police continue to arrest us. We will be back the next day. Keep selling your customers inferior products, and I will continue to put a smile on their face every time they walk through my dispensary door. We are not afraid of you, we will not back down and our lawyers are ready.

Sincerely,

One pissed-off dispensary owner