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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Canada: Marc Emery's pot shops across Canada raided after his arrest in Toronto Andrea Janus CBC News Thursday 09 Mar 2017 Police across Canada raided marijuana shops belonging to the so-called Prince of Pot, Marc Emery, after he and his wife were arrested at Pearson International Airport Wednesday night on their way to a pot festival in Europe. Emery and his wife, Jodie, appeared in a Toronto court on Thursday, were remanded into custody and are expected to appear again for a bail hearing on Friday morning. Mark Pugash, spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service, said police will post an official list of the charges against the couple on Friday afternoon. Jodie Emery mouthed an "I love you" to her husband while in court. She then held up her fingers in a peace sign to her supporters. Their B.C.-based lawyer, Kirk Tousaw, said Toronto police have told him his clients have been charged with trafficking cannabis. The Emerys are being represented in court Thursday by Jack Lloyd. Both were held overnight at Toronto police's 51 Division following their arrests. Toronto police were tightlipped about the arrests early Thursday, refusing to release any details. But around midday, the force issued a short news release to say that 11 search warrants were executed in Toronto, the Hamilton area and Vancouver as part of Project Gator, "a Toronto Police Service project targeting marijuana dispensaries." "We have been enforcing the law, which is absolutely clear that dispensaries are illegal," Mark Pugash, director of corporate communication for Toronto police, told CBC Toronto Thursday afternoon. "We have been enforcing the law for some considerable time and this is an ongoing part of that commitment to enforcing the law." In addition to seven Cannabis Culture locations, police raided four private residences, Pugash said: two in Toronto, one in Stoney Creek, Ont., and one in Vancouver. Five people were arrested as part of the investigation, he said. He would not discuss why Cannabis Culture, which sells recreational marijuana, in particular was the target of this operation. Vancouver police confirmed that they raided the Emerys' Cannabis Culture location on West Hastings at 8 a.m. local time at the request of Toronto police. Officers could be seen both inside and outside the shop. Cannabis Culture also tweeted that some of its Toronto locations were raided Thursday morning. The co-owners of the Church Street location, Erin and Chris Goodwin, were among those arrested for trafficking Thursday, CBC Toronto's Ali Chiasson reported. The Ottawa location of Cannabis Culture was also raided Thursday, but Toronto police told CBC Ottawa that the raid was not part of Project Gator. Ottawa police declined to release information about their operation. Emery and his wife run about a dozen marijuana shops in Canada under the Cannabis Culture banner. Marc Emery was released from a U.S. prison in 2014 after spending just over four years behind bars on charges of selling marijuana seeds in the United States. A Facebook post by Marc Emery shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday said he and his wife were headed to Spain for Spannabis, a marijuana festival. Toronto police have been cracking down on the city's illegal dispensaries for several months. There has been a spate of robberies of dispensaries across the city, some where shots were fired. The turmoil has occurred as the federal government continues to mull changes to Canada's marijuana laws. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/emerys-arrested-airport-1.4017105
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