PACIFIC SPIRIT 12
FRIDAY
May 8 2015
Reiki breaky heart
Vol. 106 No. 36
MOTHER’S DAY 15
My Mom’s Voice BASEBALL 29
T-Birds take title There’s more online at
vancourier.com WEEKEND EDITION
THE VOICE of VANCOUVER NEIGHBOURHOODS since 1908
Eat local, get social Vancouver Farmers Markets hits 20 years Cheryl Rossi
crossi@vancourier.com
Mona Stilwell was a fuzzy-brained and grumpy new mother of twins when she set out to her local farmers market last summer for stimulation. She got more than she bargained for. Stilwell not only stocked up on fresh, fortifying foods, but also met another mother of twins, which planted the seeds for a flourishing support system. Now Stilwell meets five other East Vancouver mothers of twins twice a week, 10 kids in tow. The women meet for dinner once a month. “No babies, no spouses and we dish the dirt to each other and vent,” she said. It’s another tendril of community she’s felt since she started frequenting Vancouver’s farmers markets five years ago, lured by local produce. “The best thing is that when you buy produce at the farmers market, it lasts a lot longer in your fridge,” she said. “You know it hasn’t been on a truck for 20 hours or whatever.” That kind of desire for access to locally grown food pulled a grassroots group together 20 years ago to launch the first farmers market in Vancouver. Continued on page 5
MARKET VALUE Mona Stilwell loves the local food, stories and community she’s unearthed at Vancouver Farmers Markets, which celebrates 20 years of selling local foods and crafts this year. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET
Pot seller welcomes regulation ‘Edibles’ banned in proposed city rules
Mike Howell
mhowell@vancourier.com
If city council decides to regulate the growing number of marijuana dispensaries in Vancouver, that will mean an end to all marijuana goods sold in pot shops. So no more cookies, brownies, butter or ice cream.
And Don Briere, who co-owns more than a dozen Weeds Glass and Gifts pot shops, is perfectly fine with dumping what are commonly referred to in the industry as edibles from his inventory. At least for now. “There’s amateurs out there and they’re not consistent and they don’t know what they’re doing,” he said of the variety of homemade goods available for sale in pot shops. “It’s like people who make backyard gin, people can go blind drinking it. They didn’t do it intentionally, but it can happen.” Briere said his hope is council will first
regulate the pot shops, which total more than 80 in Vancouver. Once regulations bring some stability to the businesses, he said, operators can then approach the city to set an industry standard for the making and selling of edibles. “Then we can have a consistent product,” said Briere, who spoke to the Courier the week after police raided one of his pot shops at 2916 West Fourth Ave. Police said a 15-year-old was hospitalized after allegedly purchasing edible products from the store. Other “events involving young people” were also reasons for executing a
Thinking oƒ SELLING your Vancouver area home? THINK OF PAUL.
search warrant, according to a news release issued by the Vancouver Police Department. Briere said his staff member did not sell to the teen and doesn’t know how he obtained the product. He said none of his stores sell to minors, although he surmised an adult could have bought the product for the boy. “If it was a client that did that, then they should be charged and we will ban that person from our stores forever,” he said, noting the store re-opened about 48 hours later. “But it’s all hearsay and there were no charges.” Continued on page 6 $
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