FARK.com: (738124) Quebec opens 'bring your own pot' coffee shop, police shut it down

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		Quebec opens 'bring your own pot' coffee shop, police shut it down (cbc.ca)		67
		More: Dumbass

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5907 clicks; posted to Main » on 29 Nov 2003 at 11:51 PM | Favorite | share:

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TheOmni		2003-11-29 10:27:37 PM

Goddamned cops, and more importantly, goddamned government. This was a nice idea. There was a bill before Parliament that would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. I forget the exact wording of the bill, but I believe having less than 30 grams would be alright, or it would be a simple fine, like a parking ticket would be. Still illegal to sell though. So they had started this plan in motion months ago, but the bill didn't get a chance in Parliament before they shut down and will be reintroduced next year. But the Bloc Pot decided to continue ahead with their plan and simply open up the coffee shop. And if you read the article you would also see that the police did not shut it down. In fact the place was full of patrons smoking pot and the police arrested only two individuals, refuses to say why, and refused to say if they would be back or not. It's entirely possible that those two were trying to sell, which the owners of the shop had clearly said would not be allowed before the shop opened. I'm excited about this whole thing and have been following it closely. Canada is quite obviously close to the US and the borders are largely unpatrolled. If you have ever gone through the border you know how easy it is to get through, even after September 11th. As much as most Americans and the American government would like to deny it Canada is a large influence on us as well as us being a large influence on Canada. If they do succeed in decriminalizing marijuana, or even legalizing it, it is bound to help forward the similar movements here in the states and also help with the social acceptance of marijuana, already the most socially accepted illegal drug by a long shot. In some cases even more socially accepted than some legal drugs. Hopefully this whole failing War on Drugs will show people that the government can't arbitrarily rule them and we do have the power to stop them and change things for the better.

AliceInWonderland		2003-11-29 10:32:46 PM

TheOmni

whoa, back away from the keyboard...

TheOmni		2003-11-29 10:33:51 PM

Damn, that didn't seem quite so long while I was writing it.

rhiannon		2003-11-29 10:35:51 PM

TheOmni: With Paul Martin in charge the decrim, and especially the legalization, is going to be one heck of an uphill battle.

DougTanner		2003-11-29 11:53:42 PM

A shop full of people smoking Pot, and only 2 got arrested. I love Canada. <3

MorningBreath		2003-11-29 11:55:26 PM

Quebec? Why do we care about what happens in Eastern Europe anyway?

Subversive		2003-11-29 11:56:02 PM

"Dumbass?" You mean the cops? Well, sure, but it's hardly a high-IQ profession, and someone in this thread is going to argue that they were only doing their jobs as directed by their superiors.

Perhaps "sad" would have been a better tag.

overlord		2003-11-29 11:57:03 PM

BYOP at TCBY not AOK.

MrTuffPaws		2003-11-29 11:57:31 PM

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Subversive		2003-11-29 11:57:41 PM

MorningBreath -- heh!

Justin Case		2003-11-29 11:58:42 PM

"the joint, called Chez Marijane" Ha Ha Ha

coolgeek		2003-11-29 11:59:10 PM

Yeah, perhaps those two were spotted selling dope by an undercover cop. Nevertheless, two people being arrested hardly contitutes being "shut down."
Who wrote the cutline anyway? Sheesh.

/ duck! the sky is falling! the sky is falling!

coolgeek		2003-11-30 12:01:58 AM

MrTuffPaws

When I grew up as a kid, the anthem was usually sung in both official languages.
Tsk, tsk.

DandamanFL		2003-11-30 12:08:35 AM

Similar pot cafes have opened in a few other places in Canada, and charges have been laid in some cases

Hey, everbody gets laid!!

helix400		2003-11-30 12:10:26 AM

theOmni

The tab key can be your friend. =)

TheOmni		2003-11-30 12:14:31 AM

I've never been good at the concept of paragraphs. When I'm writing a story or an essay I always have to go back and try and split it up. But here I can't go back, so you'll just have to live with a solid block, so take that.

HeathenWolf		2003-11-30 12:22:31 AM

The fact that they only arrested two people is interesting. The article doesn't say WHO was arrested - were they patrons, or management? It doesn't say what they were charged with, either - was it actually a narcotics charge, or did they mouth off and get busted for having an English t-shirt?

On a side note, smoking in cafes is illegal in a lot of Canadian cities now. Maybe this is related?

cbm5		2003-11-30 12:27:56 AM

Smoking pot is wrong.

I just thought I would start a backfire to stem the raging flame war that is approaching. Oh, I almost forgot: Hitler.

hail_discordia		2003-11-30 12:30:42 AM

i think a good idea would be to kill the horses of the candian police. and do speed while you are smoking pot so you can out run those lazy horsey cops. i hate horsey cops. and horses.i mean, dudley dooright obviously smoked the ganj, so its like those horsey cops are pooping on their own heritage. wheres my pants?

jely		2003-11-30 12:34:07 AM

I don't get it, I bring my travel mug into the coffee shop all the time to get coffee on the way to work -- if people wanna bring in their coffee pots, that should be cool too.

Oh...THAT kind of pot!

d3ik		2003-11-30 12:49:08 AM

I personally don't understand this big drive to "legalize it". The average American or Canadian is already dumb as a brick, do we really need an outside influence make the situation worse?

Ceph		2003-11-30 12:50:34 AM

JBalkwill		2003-11-30 12:54:49 AM

Canada is being over run with dutch people.

JBalkwill		2003-11-30 12:55:24 AM

Canada is being over run with dutch people.

fijiankavaholic		2003-11-30 12:57:13 AM

Coffee and pot = hyper pot heads. Hyper pot heads = trouble.

dotderf		2003-11-30 01:03:05 AM

Never smoked in my life, but I still firmly believe that the government is violating the social contract by preventing people from putting what they want into their own bodies. Each man is sovereign in regards to his own body.

Subversive		2003-11-30 01:12:47 AM

Ceph,
It's all fine and dandy, this marijuana prohibition stuff, until your significant other gets sent to prison where their lives get turned to shiat and they do nothing for months out of their life, thereby ruining the lives around them while the taxpayer is forced to support them.

warpdragon		2003-11-30 01:22:09 AM

Justin_Case: I thought joints were called ganji.

gonekicking		2003-11-30 01:28:03 AM

O Canabis!!!

I happen to live in the area, and the plateau, as it is known, is full of cafes and restaurants who tolerate people lighting up discreetly. I've smoked hash with restaurant owners after nice meals, and even complete strangers in a park. Yes Montreal is great.

That being said, the fact that this place "had been under surveillance since the doors opened" and that "The cafe is less than a block from a police station." are probably the cause of the dumbass tag...and the reason they were not ignored by the cops, who ignore just about everyone else who smokes here. Unless you're black of course, I mean cops will be cops...

FotH		2003-11-30 01:31:47 AM

I'm glad I'm not the only person who saw "bring your own pot" coffee shop and immediately thought of this:

And thought "and the police shut this place down?"

Haha wait, maybe I'm an idiot.

gouch		2003-11-30 01:36:22 AM

Canada is going to get a lot of my tourist dollars. What do you need to do to work in Canada if you're from another country?

gonekicking		2003-11-30 01:38:49 AM

The whole song goes

O Canabis
Our home grown native herb
true chronic buzz
that all our sons demand

With growing arts
We see thee rise
The true Nothern Lights #5 strain

For Uncle Sam
In Canada
We grow large buds for thee

Some towns in rural Canada have estimated that about 30% of their income comes from ganja-farming. American prohibition is what's keeping our farmers from going bankrupt. Please don't legalise in the US. Here it's okay though.

gonekicking		2003-11-30 01:40:16 AM

Gouch

I hear there will be a shortage of farm help next year...

bobbette		2003-11-30 01:41:34 AM

you need a working visa, and i think you have to have secured employment before you can get one, gouch.

in vancouver we have a good number of pot cafes and they're always fine.

on a side note, you can generally smoke anything you want anywhere in montreal, which is a total biatch. i'm used to clubs in vancouver where people generally don't smoke so much, and when in montreal i'm choking and gasping for air everywhere. :)

Ceph		2003-11-30 01:42:08 AM

Subversive

I'll agree that that is a bit overboard. And yet, if no one did it, the problem wouldn't be here. If no one did it, there would be no demand, and therefor no supply. I think it is fine as a recreational hobby or social thing, but when it takes over people's lives, then it has to be regulated. And it just happens the current regulation makes it illegal. Canada might be on the right track - make it OK to posess small amounts but not sell it unless you are authorized to do so. Would be good in making sure the shiat doesn't come from other countries where we are making some drug lord rich. Might as well keep the wealth in our own damn country.

Philbb		2003-11-30 01:44:58 AM

dotderf

Each man is sovereign in regards to his own body.

If only it were true.

findthefish		2003-11-30 01:45:46 AM

/sigh...goes to unpack bags...

Arnold T Pants		2003-11-30 01:48:14 AM

its all find and dandy, this pot stuff, til your significant other devotes his/her life to the shiat and do nothing for months of their life, thereby ruining the lives around them theat are forced to support them. And for that reason I shall never support such legalization. Perhaps decriminilization, but not legalization.

My significant other wouldn't do that, and your significant other shouldn't ruin it for the rest of us responsible people. This arguement sucks. The same thing can be said about everything(eg watching tv), but there has to be a tradeoff somewhere.

Arnold T Pants		2003-11-30 01:55:13 AM

tradeoff = 1000 people that are in prison for smoking pot for one person who ruins there life by smoking pot (i.e. watching tv and eating cheetos).

the_god_ninti		2003-11-30 01:58:27 AM

foth, no you were not the only one.

here.comes.the.pain		2003-11-30 01:59:11 AM

We have a bring-your-own-pot cafe here in London Ontario (4-5 hundred thousand people). Cops for some reason just don't seem to give a shiat about it. They have a munchies menu and you can even rent showcase bongs for 2 bucks/hour.

Bill_Wick's_Friend		2003-11-30 02:01:40 AM

here.comes.the.pain

where in London?

I'm an ex Londoner who is there 2ce a year at Thanksgiving and/or Passover.

Subversive		2003-11-30 02:11:21 AM

Ceph,

If no one did it, the problem wouldn't be here. If no one did it, there would be no demand, and therefor no supply. ...When it takes over people's lives, then it has to be regulated.

I'm not opposed to regulation. Regulation works so long as the regulations are reasonable. For example, it is much more difficult for kids to get alcohol than it is for them to get marijuana, because they don't need an ID to prove that they are 21 years old in order to buy marijuana.

It is prohibition that does not work. If no one used a particular substance then there would be no demand, but the simple fact is that prohibition doesn't stop people from using. All prohibition does is put otherwise law-abiding people in prison at enormous taxpayer expense while also injecting the maximum amount of violence and corruption into our society.

People have used marijuana and other substances recreationally for thousands of years. They aren't going to suddenly stop, just because you want them to or there is a "law" telling them they cannot.

mrpotato		2003-11-30 02:13:40 AM

The place wasn't shut down

The title is misleading: two people were arrested, but that's all. The police didn't do much, appart some intimidation.

Also, this is going to be hard to shut down: officially, it's the office of a local political party for marijuana's legalization, where they happen to have a public meeting point.

And just so you know, this is a somewhat first for an *official* bring-your-own-jay place, but there are other joints where you can have a smoke in Montreal.

The new cafe is at less than 5 minutes walking from my place. Vive le Quebec libre.

This was MrPotato, reporting live from Montreal

gonekicking		2003-11-30 02:24:19 AM

And on top of all the other good arguments, if weed were not illegal all of us farkers would never have heard the phrase "...uncontrolable penile bleeding." That alone is a reason to legalize.

At christmas, does his wife give mrpotato head?

TheJoe03		2003-11-30 02:25:00 AM

Canada looks cooler everyday, I am packing my bags for Vancouver one day.

mrpotato		2003-11-30 02:34:14 AM

gonekicking: ah, I recognize you as a fellow bag kicker from Montreal. Pleased to meet you. Today's snow ruined outside kicking...

MrEricSir		2003-11-30 02:51:03 AM

It's important for pot to be illegal, because everytime you smoke it you go on a rampage and kill eighteen or more innocent people.

gonekicking		2003-11-30 02:55:48 AM

mrpotato: How ever did you unmask me? Must of been my incredibly lame sense of humor. But now that you mention it I remember playing with you as a child...

Don't like snow? Just kick inside...see ya there tuesday night. Whoopin's are on the house.

Ceph		2003-11-30 04:04:11 AM

Subversive

Prohibition does work, just not in republics. Look at various other countries that are not a repbulic-type government (I say republic rather than democracy because our country has made a mockery of the idea of democracy). For example, Saddam (before he was ousted) could of, on a whim, declared there be no internet in Iraq, cut the fibers, and be internet free. Few would dare to use it for fear of their life. We americans fear for our lives in different, more material ways. "Oh my god, I cannot afford my beach home, or my winter lodge home, or my Manhatten loft, aaaand care for my elderly parents! I will surely die!"

That being said.. yep.

And hey, if we can make tax money off of pot, by all means, do something! If one in 10 americans (roughly 28 million) only bout $50 worth of weed every two months, that is USD$ 8.4 bn per year. Throw on a federal tax of 12%, that is USD$ 1 bn per year. Of course, the obligatory state, county, city, reform, renovation, and miller park stadium taxes would be applied, too. And you know after legalization, the numbers would only go up from 1 in 10, especially with the hippies getting older. Instead of giving them drugs on expensive rx drug plans.. we can just give them pot. Probably cheaper, anyway!

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