A Cannabis Culture dispensary has been raided by the cops. Again.
Police descended on a newly opened Cannabis Culture outlet in Brantford, ON and arrested a 35-year-old man on trafficking charges.
CC staff member Jake being arrested this morning outside our new #CannabisCulture location in #Brantford #Ontario #SHAME #stopthearrests pic.twitter.com/1iHT6TKHbZ
— Cannabis Culture (@CannabisCulture) February 22, 2017
Three more staff members were arrested this morning after the dispensary chose to reopen its doors to customers. Franchise co-owner Marc Emery was not among them.
Meanwhile, his wife Jodie led roughly a dozen protesters on Parliament Hill this morning to demand the federal government act quickly to legalize cannabis and immediately stop arresting people for possession. The group then a marched through downtown Ottawa to open a new Cannabis Culture shop at 391 Bank St.
“Legalization should mean no more Canadians are criminalized,” she told the assembled crowd outside the House of Commons. “Second-class citizens is what we become when the police arrest us for pot. Every day Canadians are being arrested and hurt by police. every day dispensaries are being raided, people are being sent to court, and young people being given [criminal] records that deny them the right to contribute to society.”
Click here to watch a Facebook Live video taken by Pot TV at the protest.
The Cannabis Culture chain currently operate about 20 shops across the country. The Emerys opened a string of dispensaries in Montreal in December, including one shop that had lineups around the block after staff gave away free buds, that were quickly raided by police.
In Ottawa, police have raided nearly a dozen pot shops since November.
More information to come as the story develops.