A weed cafe has just opened up in the downtown area of the city that I go to school in. The location is just around the corner from where I wait for my bus every morning.
http://www.upinsmokecafe.ca/
http://www.upinsmokecafe.ca/
UP IN SMOKE
By Terry Ott
View Magazine (Hamilton)
In 1978, Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong—the later of whom recently finished up a nine–month jail stay for
selling a bong across state lines—produced the gold standard of stoner movies, with the brilliant Up In Smoke.
There is a line in the movie uttered by dip shit narco cop Sgt. Stadenko (Stacey Keach) that goes something like:
“The buying and selling of dope is one of the last vestiges of free enterprise left in this country.”
Now, in 2004, two young Hamilton men will try to put Stadenko’s edict to the test. Well, sort of, and if they can.
Chris Goodwin and Ryan Clark plan to open the Up In Smoke Cannabis Cafe at 227 King St. E, deep in the heart
of the Hammer, with the grand opening slated for August 21, Cannabis Day.
Up In Smoke aspires to be only the tenth retail proprietary dispenser of marijuana and hashish in
Canada, and will definitely test the local law enforcement level of tolerance for the murky marijuana laws.
Goodwin, a political science student at McMaster, is the senior partner in the venture, which will operate from a
2,000–square–foot facility, with an initial investment in the five–figure range.
In an exclusive interview, Goodwin proclaimed his marijuana manifesto: “Our real reason d’etre is to
organize the cannabis culture into an effective civil rights movement.
“We are a wrongly outlawed culture, viciously discriminated against for 70 years and we are finally,
effectively, organizing to regain our rightful place in society as individuals and equals.”
Pretty high–minded—pun intended—hyperbole from a guy who, after all, is principaly interested in getting you
high, yet it would appear that Goodwin and Clark are taking the enterprise very practically, if not a tad preachily.
“I talked to Mike Thompson, who is the head of the Hamilton Police drug task force,” said junior partner
Clark, a Mohawk advertising student. “(Thompson) talked about (Up In Smoke) operating on a membership only
basis, but also said that his mandate is crack houses (not retail pot houses).”
And a July press release from the Ontario Consumers For Safe Access To Recreational Cannabis claims that a
recent Supreme Court decision (Regina vs. Mann) has made recreational marijuana use “defacto legal” in Canada.
So as Goodwin and Clark see it, they are therefore free to sell cannabis cookies, hash brownies and muffins, as
well as standard head shop fare such as bongs, pipes and assorted toking paraphernalia.
Up In Smoke (www.upinsmokecafe.ca) will also feature home–cooked vegan meals and offer Internet access to its
customers in what is described as a cozy and friendly atmosphere.
I guess the best way to picture the cafe would be to recall the scene in Cheech and Chong’s Still Smokin’ in
which the two lovable pot heads excitedly order their mary jane fare from a varied menu of buds seeds and salads.
In fact, Goodwin and Clark are considering a “Still Smokin’” moniker if and when they open a second
location. If all this has some tokers and pot abstainers et al thinking, “hey, (man) this is too good to be true,” you
just may be right.
In the next few weeks, Up In Smoke will surely receive the requisite hype, fear and loathing from the local
luminaries, as well as a much closer look by the Hammer cops and local Crown Attorney’s office. As I understand it,
Goodwin and Clark received no hard and fast promises from the police that they would not investigate and even
possibly bust them, similar to the bust of another local head shop proprietor earlier this year.
If Up In Smoke were to receive governmental certification as a medical marijuana membership cafe, then there
would probably be precious little the coppers could do about it. However, if the thrust of the cafe is the retail offering of marijuana products for sale to any and all comers, then I think Up In Smoke could quickly become up, and well, out.
Just imagine the above–the–fold banner headline screaming out from the Hamilton Spectator: “Pot to be
sold in store in downtown Hamilton.”
The mayor and many other upstanding citizens would surely have their shorts in a knot, and what happened
next would be anyone’s guess. After all, this ain’t BC, or even Toronto. And under the tough new federal
Proceeds of Crime law, if the cops lay charges of trafficking against Up in Smoke, then all the assets of the
perpetrators are available for seizure by the feds. Ouch.
Even though the chances for such tough action by authorities is probably small, Goodwin and Clark seem to
be sensibly planning for any eventuality. They said that if they are raided, they have enough stock
to re–open with 48 hours, and have retained strong legal representation to deal with any police action.
But even if Goodwin and Clark are bonging past the bone yard, they sure are talking the talk. “The retail store is the
first line of the Cannabis Liberation Movement. Together, we will end cannabis prohibition in Canada,” stated Goodwin.
That, or go up in smoke.