Pubdate: Thu, 24 Jan 2013
Source: Business In Vancouver (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 BIV Publications Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.biv.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2458
Author: Glen Korstrom

OLYMPIAN ROSS REBAGLIATI TO LAUNCH MARIJUANA SHOPS

Olympic gold medallist snowboarder Ross Rebagliati plans to launch a
string of medical marijuana stores branded Ross' Gold and then sell
franchises depending on his stores' success, Rebagliati told Business
in Vancouver January 23.

Rebagliati won the first-ever Olympic gold medal in snowboarding in
1998 and was temporarily stripped of that medal after testing positive
for the active ingredient in marijuana, THC.

He aims to open a flagship store in Whistler this spring and then roll
out secondary storefronts in Vancouver and Toronto.

"Our vision is that, when you walk in, there will be a coffee shop at
the front and at the back it will be only for those 18 years and
older," said Rebagliati, who is CEO of the venture. "That's where
there will be the paraphernalia, the medicinal marijuana dispensary
and a doctor's office."

Customers would make appointments with the doctor, get a prescription
for marijuana and then get that prescription filled on-site.

"There's already, like, three head shops in Whistler, in the village,
so there's no government approval needed," he said.

Rebagliati has been a successful real-estate investor for several
years, flipping more than half a dozen properties in Whistler, where
he now lives. His short-lived real-estate development career ended
soon after the economic downturn hit, when tycoon Donald Trump pulled
out of a project that he and Rebagliati had planned.

Rebagliati's medical marijuana venture comes in the lead-up to the
Canadian government's slated privatization of the medical marijuana
industry.

New laws are expected to be introduced at the end of March and would
go into effect in spring 2014.

Rebagliati estimates the potential value of medical marijuana in
Canada at $5 billion annually and in the U.S. at $17 billion per year.

Rebagliati's partner in Ross' Gold is Patrick Smyth, who founded Ocean
Eclipse Venture Capital Inc. and will be president.

The duo have lined up several silent investors and are not seeking any
new investment, Smyth told BIV. 
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