The Raid Lobby
CANNABIS CULTURE – How the Licensed Producer cartel and NORML Canada work together to goad the police into raiding even more unlicensed dispensaries and busting more growers and dealers than ever before.
“Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows”
“Everybody Knows,” Leonard Cohen & Sharon Robinson, 1988
Don’t These People Know Who We Are?
A few days ago, on September 21st, 2022, I got an email from Dan the editor at Cannabis Culture online.
“Hey David, in to rebut this?”
The “this” in question was a press release sent out by the Cannabis Council of Canada – or “C3” – the spokespeople for the Licensed Producers. The legal pot lobby.
I took a quick look at it – all things I had dealt with before – and fired off a quick email back to Dan.
“Give me a few days. Should not be a problem.”
“Fire at will.” He responded.
The Press Release, titled Cannabis Act Statutory Review: Backgrounder Draft was unavailable online. Someone in their PR department obviously sent it to Cannabis Culture by mistake. It was full of the usual half-truths, bold assertions, self-serving assumptions and outright lies one would expect from the corporate cannabis industry lobby.
For example, they kept promoting the government’s fiction that Canada “legalized” pot back in 2018. Is your community “legalized” if over half your community remains illegal? Any honest evaluation of the Cannabis Act reveals that the government’s stated goals for that set of regulations do not match their actions. (1)
Everybody Knows The Good Guys Lost
Everybody knows pot remained illegal for a majority of the growers and dealers, and a large percentage of the users too – the teens.
On page 8 of the document, under the heading “Jobs and economic growth,” C3 boasted of creating “151,414” jobs. Back in 2004, the Victoria Times Colonist estimated that there were 500,000 people employed in cannabis growing in Canada. (2) That’s not including dealers.
What C3 was really bragging about was turning thousands and thousands of independent growers and dealers into poorly-paid employees – some of whom have recently had to go on strike to attempt to gain a living wage:
“The demands of the BCGEU were simple: a raise to match cost of living increases, or a five per cent increase each year for three years, whichever is higher. Everyone deserves a livable wage, especially those who run the services that keep the province running.” (3)
The workers in the Canadian pot industry that the Licensed Producers weren’t exploiting – those remaining in the legacy market – were the ones the Licensed Producers wanted raided out of existence. C3 was doing their level best to destroy the bulk of the industry – hundreds of thousands of unlicensed growers and dealers – by goading the government/police into more raids.
The Poor Stay Poor, The Rich Get Rich
On page 11 of the document, under the heading “Public Support for Government Action” there were 4 choices available to those polled:
“FED. GOV. APPROACH ON LEGAL CANNABIS:
- It should make it illegal again (13%)
- It should focus on reducing the illegal cannabis market, but it should not support the legal industry’s growth and campion the industry. (29%)
- It should champion the industry to grow, create jobs, and export technology, processes and expertise around the world. (40%)
- Unsure (19%)”
By “reducing the illegal market” they mean, of course, more cops pointing more guns in more harmless people’s faces. What wasn’t provided as an option was the activist option: regulate cannabis as a soft drug – like fair-trade organic coffee beans or herbal medicine – and stop all arrests entirely. This is the option favored by much of the activist community, and was recently adopted as the official cannabis policy of the Green Party of Canada. (4)
On page 13 of the document, under the heading “Licensed Producers are in crisis,” C3 outlined their three major concerns:
“The financial viability of licensed producers and processors of cannabis is in crisis due to:
- Combined impact of excise tax rate, provincial distributor mark-ups and regulatory fees;
- Nanny State regulations; and
- Unbridled competition from illicit market cannabis”
On page 19 and 20, the “5 Big Asks” were revealed:
“Urgent action is needed to protect the public health and safety successes of legalization and “grow the pie” for governments. The Cannabis Council of Canada is calling on the Government of Canada to:
- Address the financial viability of licensed producers and processors –fix the excise tax, mark-ups and fees.
- Level the playing field with the illicit market.
- Allow licensed producers and processors to communicate with consumers, including about the effects of cannabis.
- Eliminate costly “Nanny State” regulations.
- Strengthen patient access to medical cannabis.”
By “unbridled competition from illicit market cannabis” they meant there was not enough cops pointing guns at the heads of unlicensed dealers (many of whom were Indigenous or people of colour), (5) and not enough people being killed every year from low-level pot law enforcement. (6) By “level the playing field with the illicit market” they meant more raids, more busts, more small businesses destroyed, more lives ruined than ever before.
This was not a new call for raids. C3 – and previous incarnations of the pot lobby – have been calling for more raids for years.
Everybody Knows The Fight Was Fixed
In March of 2014, the Federal government’s lawyer claimed – in court – that the LPs would “need a captive market to get established.” They didn’t call it a “captive market” in the press when they first rolled out their new program – they called it a “free market” – the opposite of a “captive market.” (7)
And at least as far back as 2014, Licensed Producers MediJean and Tweed were encouraging the elimination of their legacy competition, through vocal public support for such policies as mandatory minimum sentences for growers and the elimination of home-growing rights. (8)
The raid lobby kicked into high gear in January 2016 when Liberal Party insiders – including George Smitherman (who is now President and CEO of C3) (9) did their best to make sure their legacy competition was raided away:
“A former high-ranking colleague and friend of MP Bill Blair, the Liberal government’s point man on marijuana legalization, will lobby the ex-Toronto police chief in hopes of ensuring a tightly controlled system in which only licensed firms are allowed to grow the lucrative drug. Kim Derry, a deputy chief of the Toronto Police Service under Mr. Blair, is a promoter of marijuana facility THC Meds Ontario Inc., along with George Smitherman, a former Ontario Liberal deputy premier. Mr. Blair, put in charge of the marijuana file last week, will play a key role in determining who gets to grow the product once it is legalized.” (10)
One look at the C3 website reveals just how focused C3 is on encouraging more raids.
For example, in 2021, C3 released their Not Done Yet Report Card, which gave the Federal Government an “F” in the “combatting the illicit market” category. Some of the details of C3s concerns in this category were:
“The illicit market which accounts for at least 50% of all cannabis sales in Canada. This means that $4 billion dollars per year of cannabis sales are diverted to the illicit market, resulting in the loss of hundreds of millions of tax dollars and missed opportunities for communities and individuals in the legal industry.” (11)
C3 also gave an “F” grade on “Consumer Education and Awareness,” arguing
“The government has failed to inform Canadians about the dangers of consuming illicit cannabis products and to help Canadians differentiate legal from illicit cannabis.” (12)
Helping Canadians Differentiate Legal From Illicit Cannabis
There has been lots of evidence of quality control issues with cartel cannabis, including some evidence of poisoned soil being sold out the back door, (13) hydrogen cyanide – Nazi gas chamber poison-related dangers – from the use of banned pesticides (14) and the media (15) and government (16) hiding these cartel-pot quality control issues from the public.
The government has admitted to some of these cartel quality control problems, Including but not limited to at least 3 gummy recalls, (17) at least one capsule recall, (18) and at least 16 dried cannabis recalls. (19)
Consider that isn’t 16 different products recalled. That’s 16 lots or batches of products recalled – thousands and thousands of individual packages. But the government considers these problems isolated incidents rather than “corporate agribusiness” “profit before all else” “mega-warehouse” “no organic standards” systemic problems. In both head-to-head, non-LP controlled quality comparisons between LP and legacy cannabis, the legacy cannabis came out cleaner. (20)
This focus on raids – and the fraud behind the quality control concerns that justify the raids – isn’t surprising. The Licensed Producers are not part of a free market – they’re part of a captive market. They are a cartel. The cartel was called such by the Financial Post when pot became legal:
“When cops did enforce the country’s no-toking laws, they could plausibly tell themselves they were doing it to protect young people and other innocents. Now when they enforce the laws they’re doing it to protect legally privileged producers against producers who find themselves offside with often arbitrary licensing laws. Protecting kids was one thing. Protecting cartels is quite another.” (21)
The cartel needs the raids to eliminate their legacy market competition and make more profit. Raids is just part of the business plan. Maybe it’s the main part.
Making Raids NORML
What IS surprising is that Canada’s oldest pot consumer advocacy group signed on to their report card. NORML Canada was one of the “co-authors” of this pro-raid Report Card document!
Back in February of 2022, after discovering this report card, I emailed Jennawae McLean, then “Retail Inclusion Coordinator” at NORML Canada (22) about their involvement in the Report Card. This was her response:
“That report card, yes…that was done a week or two before I was made ED. So if my memory serves me correctly, the NORML contribution (or at least my contribution) was regarding retail sales barriers and advocating for the inclusion of the unregulated market (which was my personal experience). It is certainly not the position of NORML to advocate about the ‘dangers of illicit cannabis’ . . . at most we advocate for safe adult consumption, knowing your limit and staying within it. I would also agree there is a lack of consumer education and awareness (mostly related to the marketing regulations). I may be able to find the verbatim contribution—it was a few months back but the google doc may be still kicking around. Let me see what I can find.” (23)
A few minutes later, Jennawae sent another email, with NORML Canada’s contribution to the Report Card. What disturbed me was that there was no concern over the many ongoing raids or the continued arrests and punishment of the legacy market – only concerns over the unfair advantages the legacy market had over the Licensed Producers, and perhaps allowing for some tokenism to give the pot market the appearance of inclusivity while still permitting the police to target the majority of growers and dealers. Under “Combatting the illicit market” NORML Canada contributed this:
“-Provincial buyers are not bringing enough diversity in product to the regulated market. While there has been an improvement in offerings there are still limited product drops that don’t allow fair access to all products for all retailers across the country. Discretion to purchase is also privately held resulting in potential bias influencing product availability.
-Limited product drops from the province limits product innovation in the market. The unregulated market has a constant flow of new products and innovation. Retailers are being stifled. The quasi-public nature of the Provincial buyers results in a lack of viable scrutiny of their actions resulting in a lack of clarity on delays for new product offerings.
-The unregulated market is able to market their products with no limitations and can actually make cannabis products seem appealing (which is really no different than how alcohol is marketed). The Federal government doubled down on its enforcement on promotion prohibitions resulting in the stifling of free expression relating to legal cannabis.
-The unregulated market isn’t necessarily charging or paying any tax (let alone paying a SIN tax driving up the price of cannabis unnecessarily). Regardless, the legacy market can modify prices in a manner unconnected to the base tax rate imposed on Licensed Producers ($1 per gram) resulting in superior pricing flexibility in the legacy market.” (24)
While there was some lip service given to removing criminal records and including people of colour in the industry (by both NORML Canada and C3), not one word was said about the cost-barriers to participate in the market – some industry experts argue convincingly that you have to be a millionaire to even have a chance at getting a grow license. (25)
Debunking Reefer Madness 2.0 Might Cut Into Our Profits
And not one word was said about the bogus science behind “cannabis psychosis” – Reefer Madness 2.0 – that justified the hard drug pot regulations and their participation-limiting barriers. (26)
I tried to get these points across in my response to Jennawae:
“My feeling was that the whole Report Card thing was designed to make it appear that NORML Canada signed off on a crackdown on legacy growers and dealers. I would be wary of any future collaboration between NORML and the cartel – your pro-legacy statements didn’t (and won’t) get into the final document. As for attempting to get cannabis regulated more like alcohol, I feel strongly that this is the wrong approach. Cannabis is a soft drug like caffeine, has similar costs to society that caffeine has, and should be regulated like organic, fair trade coffee beans are. The effect of this would be to stop harming harmless people, ending all arrests, expanding the legal market to include teens – (who are dying from drunk driving, suicide, alcohol and opiate overdose and, once in a while, pot arrests gone wrong) – which would then protect them from prohibition-related harms. The evidence for this position is non-controversial – only the stigma needs to be overcome:
https://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2021/05/18/killed-over-pot/
After a few more emails, I suggested NORML Canada put out its own report card, emphasizing NORML’s support for the legacy market and soft drug regulations. Jennawae said she would take my suggestion to the group.
A month and four days went by and Jennawae got back to me. She said the “NORML Canada report card” idea was not accepted, but their website was going to be updated and some of the ideas we discussed would be incorporated. When the website update was posted, it still had support for hard drug/alcohol-esque pot regulations:
“5. That cannabis should be fully legalized, and that its use, production, and distribution be properly regulated and taxed by provincial and local governments, much like alcohol and gambling.” (28)
The NORML Canada website certainly contained nothing that would debunk the “Reefer Madness 2.0” that is used to justify hard drug/alcohol-esque pot regulations.
Cannabis Isn’t As Dangerous As Alcohol. Or Caffeine
The website revamp had a comment section, so I left this comment as one final attempt at getting NORML Canada involved in reforming Canada’s hard drug pot regulations into soft drug pot regulations:
“Why no explicit mention of protecting the young from punishment or eliminating all barriers to participate in the pot economy? Seems to me like the quickest way to remove the rest of the injustices surrounding cannabis would be to regulate it like organic fair trade coffee beans. This would end the remaining arrests, and remove the red tape from growing industrial hemp for hemp ethanol to replace fossil fuels and to produce cheap CBD to replace many expensive pharmaceuticals. I don’t understand why NORML doesn’t explicitly call for soft drug regulations.” (29)
I got back this vague non-answer:
“Hello, Thank you for your question. We do not believe in the criminalization of cannabis and are working towards removing barriers and making the cannabis industry inclusive. This is detailed in our About Us section as well as our Statement of Principals. Thank you, NORML Canada” (30)
Perhaps the reason why NORML Canada does not concern itself with strategies that would legalize the “still criminalized under legalization” young users and non-millionaire growers and dealers is because there is virtually nobody on their list of directors who represents the legacy market.
Follow The Money
The current list of directors is as follows:
“Jennawae Cavion: Executive Director
Jack Lloyd: President
Derek Mascarenhas: Treasurer
Sarah Mills: Community Outreach
Phil Wong: Media & Events” (31)
As of September 23rd 2022, the updated NORML Canada website does not mention their economic affiliations, but a previous incarnation of their website (32) did reveal some information.
According to the old NORML website, Jennawae Cavion, (nee Jennawae McLean), is co-founder and CEO of Calyx And Trichomes – a licensed cannabis retail franchise with a couple of shops in Kingston, Ontario. (33)
Derek Mascarenhas
“. . . runs the cannabis business development firm Mika Ventures, helping to secure funding for cultivation, processing, and retail startups. He is also building Sarriette Co. an edibles startup, dedicated to the art of creating savoury cannabis foods.” (34)
Sarah Mills
“. . . is the Lead of Customer Experience at Fire & Flower’s location in Kingston, ON.” (35)
Mills is also the Territory Sales Manager at Green Hedge Education and Distribution and Territory Manager at Dycar Pharmaceuticals Ltd. – both of which are non-legacy, licensed distributors or producers. (36)
Phil Wong was a writer/photographer for High! Canada magazine, (37) and is now a cannabis blogger, who has helped shame and stigmatize the legacy market on at least one occasion. (38)
The only person on NORML Canada’s executive board that even comes close to a legacy market operative is Jack Lloyd – an excellent pot lawyer, and probably the person I would end up calling if I ever got arrested again for pot activist-related activities. But he’s not technically a legacy market operative – he’s just hired by legacy operatives on occasion. Jack also gets money for helping people “navigate the turbulent waters of Canada’s emergent federal and provincial regulatory frameworks.”(39)
The sad fact of the matter is, if all the Canadian kids that smoked pot got rounded up and forced into treatment for their intelligent preference for cannabis over alcohol and pills, and all the legacy growers and dealers got rounded up and thrown in jail, it wouldn’t affect the executive board of NORML Canada too much – some of them might even enjoy more job stability, more market share and make more money as a result.
The other sad fact is that the “alcohol regulations” that NORML Canada supports are the exact type of regulations that end up killing people from botched cannabis law enforcement. At least two people die every year in North America from low-level pot enforcement.
Hard Drug/Alcohol-esque Pot Regulations = More Deaths
Daniel Possee died in a 1992 North Vancouver pot raid over a warrant that specified the cops were looking for “2.2 pounds” of marijuana. (40)
And on March 31st, 2016 – nearly five months after Justin Trudeau won the 2015 Federal election on the promise of legalizing pot – Bony Jean-Pierre was shot and killed by police in a drug raid (41) where marijuana was the only drug in question. (42)
Who advocates for these low-level dealers? C3 sure doesn’t – they want more guns pointed at legacy grower and legacy dealer heads. And NORML Canada wants to fight for regulations similar to alcohol – making sure Canadians will be stuck with ATF-style enforcement of pot laws until Canadians realize that cannabis is not like alcohol – it’s a soft drug, like coffee beans, which should involve zero arrests, zero punishment, and zero accidental deaths from police enforcing pot laws against growing, selling or using . . . even if the grower, seller or user is a teen . . . even if the grower, seller or user doesn’t have a million dollars to risk in the attempt to get a license to grow or deal pot.
Citations:
1. http://pot-facts.ca/justin-trudeau-lied-about-supporting-pot-dispensaries-in-order-to-get-elected/
See also: “The Cannabis Act Is A Fraud,” David Malmo-Levine, April 18, 2021 https://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2021/04/18/the-cannabis-act-is-a-fraud/
2. “MARIJUANA IN CANADA,” Times Colonist, March 14th, 2004, p. 42
3. “BCGEU strike highlights necessity for cannabis industry to separate from liquor board,” Atum Beckett, September 21, 2022
https://martlet.ca/bcgeu-strike-highlights-necessity-for-cannabis-industry-to-be-separate-from-liquor-board/
4. “Federal Green Party Votes To Regulate Pot Like Coffee Beans!” David Malmo-Levine, April 21, 2022
5. “Traditional Medicine,” David Malmo-Levine, June 9, 2022 https://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2022/06/09/traditional-medicine/
6. “Killed Over Pot,” David Malmo-Levine, May 18, 2021 https://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2021/05/18/killed-over-pot/
7. http://pot-facts.ca/pot-monopolists-lobbied-the-liberals-for-a-captive-market/
See also: “The government argued it was unfounded speculation that patients would be harmed by the new regime. In fact the lawyers said it was the new licensed producers that would be harmed because they would need a captive market to get established.” “Patient’s medical marijuana juice to dry up under new law: Starting April 1, Canadian medical marijuana users have to buy dried buds from licensed businesses,” CBC News · Mar 18, 2014 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/patient-s-medical-marijuana-juice-to-dry-up-under-new-law-1.2576678 at 1:33 of the video.
“$1.3B medical marijuana free market coming to Canada – New system will use large indoor marijuana farms certified by RCMP,” The Canadian Press, Sep 29, 2013
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/1-3b-medical-marijuana-free-market-coming-to-canada-1.1872652
“Business: Health Canada presides over birth of billion-dollar free market in marijuana,” Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, B.C., September 30th, 2013, pp. 13, 16 (pp. B1, B4)
8. “Boycott Canada’s Medical Marijuana Profiteers,” David Malmo-Levine, June 12, 2014 https://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2014/06/12/boycott-canadas-medical-marijuana-profiteers/
9. https://cannabis-council.ca/about
10. “Ex-colleague will lobby MP Bill Blair to restrict field of pot growers,” DANIEL LEBLANC, PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS REPORTER, OTTAWA, JANUARY 10, 2016 https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ex-colleague-will-lobby-mp-bill-blair-to-restrict-field-of-pot-growers/article28102506/
See also: http://pot-facts.ca/pot-monopolists-lobbied-the-liberals-for-a-captive-market/
11. “Not Done Yet Report Card,” Cannabis Amnesty, Cannabis Council of Canada, Medical Cannabis Canada, NORML Canada, October 19th, 2021
https://cannabis-council.ca/files/Not-Done-Yet-Report-Card-Rationale-10.19.21.pdf
12. Ibid.
13. “LP Soil Scandal?” David Malmo-Levine, November 10, 2021 https://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2021/11/10/lp-soil-scandal/
16. http://pot-facts.ca/health-canada-and-the-licensed-producers-have-both-hidden-dangerous-cannabis-contamination-from-the-public/
17. January 29, 2021, mould
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/terrascend-canada-recalls-all-lots-haven-st-rise-no570-wild-berry-thc-infused-gummy
February 10, 2021, mould
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/thc-biomed-ltd-recalls-one-lot-thc-kiss-gummies-strawberry
March 18, 2021, insects
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/sugarsin-brand-gummies-recalled-due-presence-insects
See also:
http://pot-facts.ca/corporate-cannabis-companies-haven-st-and-agro-greens-supplied-canadians-with-mouldy-gummies/
18. September 30, 2016, microbial contamination
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/natural-advancement-canna-master-blend-2016-09-30
19. November 2, 2016, undeclaired, unauthorized pesticide: pyrethrins
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/recall-cannabis-medical-purposes-mettrum-ltd
January 9, 2017, myclobutanil and/or bifenazate
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/recall-cannabis-medical-purposes-organigram-inc
January 13, 2017, myclobutanil
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/recall-cannabis-medical-purposes-aurora-cannabis-enterprises-inc
May 16, 2017, myclobutanil
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/recall-cannabis-medical-purposes-hydropothecary
May 18, 2017, piperonyl butoxide (pesticided synergist)
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/recall-cannabis-medical-purposes-peace-naturals-project-inc
August 24, 2017, myclobutanil
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/recall-cannabis-medical-purposes-broken-coast-cannabis-ltd
November 30, 2018, mould
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/redecan-recalls-one-lot-bec-dried-cannabis
December 7, 2018, lack of testing documentation
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/bonify-recalls-2-lots-dried-cannabis-products
January 11, 2019, mould
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/cannabis-inc-recalls-one-lot-eldo-dried-cannabis
January 7, 2021, mould
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/agro-greens-natural-products-ltd-recalls-one-lot-north-40-black-cherry-punch-dried
April 9, 2021, mould
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/natural-medco-ltd-recalls-one-lot-eve-co-indica-blend-dried-cannabis
June 25, 2021, wire
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/wpcp-ltd-recalls-one-lot-kushkraft-hybrid-blue-iguana-dried-cannabis-pre-rolls
July 8, 2021, mould
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/atlas-growers-ltd-recalls-three-lots-zour-apples-full-flower-dried-cannabis-pre-rolls
October 14, 2021, mould
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/joint-venture-craft-cannabis-inc-recalls-one-lot-bud-coast-saltspring-og-shark-dried
October 28, 2021, mould
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/trichome-jwc-acquisition-corp-dba-jwc-recalls-one-lot-wagners-blue-lime-pie-dried
December 3, 2021, mould
https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/agro-greens-natural-products-ltd-recalls-one-lot-shelter-craft-organic-white-chocolate
20. http://pot-facts.ca/dispensary-cannabis-is-safer-than-lp-cannabis/
21. “William Watson: At least weed dealers catered to customers. Government pot sure doesn’t – The new legal market will clearly operate in the interest of governments,” William Watson, Financial Post, Oct 18, 2018
https://financialpost.com/opinion/william-watson-at-least-weed-dealers-catered-to-customers-government-pot-sure-doesnt
22. https://www.normlcanada.org/team
23. Calyx + Trichomes <[email protected]> Feb 3, 2022, 12:48 PM
24. Calyx + Trichomes <[email protected]> Feb 3, 2022, 12:54 PM
25. “‘But the risk and price tag associated with applying for the licence are immense, and growers can’t make a return with such a small footprint, Hurford said. Anselmo agreed, noting it can cost $500,000 to $1 million with no guarantee of approval. ‘It’s a lot of upfront risk,’ he said.’”
“’Hype, hope and dreams’: B.C.’s craft cannabis industry stunted,” Jan. 31, 2022 https://bc.ctvnews.ca/hype-hope-and-dreams-b-c-s-craft-cannabis-industry-stunted-1.5761132
http://pot-facts.ca/even-more-evidence-of-cannabis-psychosis-being-a-fraudulent-scam/
27. David Malmo-Levine <[email protected]> Feb 3, 2022, 1:31 PM
28. https://norml-canada.org/norml-canada-statement-of-principles/
29. David Malmo-Levine, Apr 1, 2022, at 7:45 PM
30. NORML Canada <[email protected]> Apr 3, 2022, 1:24 PM
31. https://norml-canada.org/about-us/
32. https://www.normlcanada.org/team
33. https://calyxandtrichomes.com/#/menu
https://www.signalhire.com/profiles/jennawae-mclean%27s-email/118567074
34. https://www.normlcanada.org/team
35. https://exclaim.ca/film/article/know_your_budtender_sarah_mills_at_fire_and_flower_in_kingston
36. https://ca.linkedin.com/in/sarah-mills-546602192
37. https://deanblundell.com/author/philster18yahoo-com/
38. https://deanblundell.com/news/cannabis/the-medical-cannabis-system-highly-scammed-by-dealers/
39. https://www.cannpsylaw.com/about/
40. “Killed Over Pot,” David Malmo-Levine, May 18, 2021 https://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2021/05/18/killed-over-pot/
41. Bony Jean-Pierre, man shot during Montreal North drug bust, has died Social Sharing Facebook Twitter Email Reddit LinkedIn 46-year-old shot with ‘intermediate weapon’ while fleeing scene of last Thursday’s police raid CBC News · Posted: Apr 04, 2016 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-north-drug-raid-1.3520308
42. “A witness recounts the strike where Bony Jean-Pierre died,” Romain Schué – TC Media, July 19, 2016
https://journalmetro.com/actualites/montreal/995340/un-temoin-raconte-la-frappe-ou-jean-pierre-bony-a-trouve-la-mort/