Chris James, owner of Cannabis and Coffee, says the giveaway for adults who wore costumes was to show the government their approach is the wrong one

Chris James has spent years advocating for improved cannabis laws and more time around the plant than most others, but the past few weeks were a little different.

He put on his chef hat, crafting 2,000 edible chocolates and gummy bears. Then, he gave them away.

James spent the eve before Halloween standing in front of his downtown Toronto shop, Cannabis and Coffee, in the pouring rain and handing out his homemade munchies to any adult who showed up in a costume.

“It is 100 per cent legal, you just can’t sell them,” he said in a phone interview.

About 500 people took him up on his offer, snagging gummy bears with 50 mg of THC and chocolate bars with 170 mg of THC — the legal edibles Canada is rolling out in mid-December will only contain 10 mg of THC.

His “Halloweed” move was more than just “a group of stoners being silly.”

“This is all about activism, public disobedience, protest. It’s not about business, I’m losing money giving away edibles … I’m trying to prove a point about what people actually want,” he says.

James recently gained attention after reportedly giving away $200,000 in free cannabis vouchers and for suing the Ontario PC Doug Ford administration after the province put a cap on the number of pot shops in Ontario.

But he also criticizes the federal government for its approach to edibles.

“There’s a 60-day delay and the milligram dosages are ridiculous, the price of edibles are going to be astronomical,” he says.

“A medical patient is going to need over 100 mg to get any kind of pain relief from an edible, you’re asking them to spend over $100 just to be able to get a nightly dosage … it’s going to be disaster.”

• Email: bhristova@postmedia.com | Twitter: bobbyhristova

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