Pubdate: Thu, 23 Feb 2017 Source: Metro (Ottawa, CN ON) Copyright: 2017 Metro Contact: http://www.metronews.ca/Ottawa Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4032 Author: Haley Ritchie Page: 6 POT SHOP OPENS NEAR PARLIAMENT HILL Marijuana activist Jodie Emery brought the fight over illegal dispensaries to the seat of government Wednesday, with a rally on Parliament Hill that kicked off the opening of a new Ottawa store that sells pot to anyone over 19. Emery is a well-known marijuana activist, who runs a successful chain of stores called Cannabis Culture with her husband, Marc Emery. The couple are known as the "prince and princess of pot." At a small rally on Wednesday, Emery and a dozen supporters railed against the government's "injustices," including arrests of dispensary staff and strict regulation of access to the drug that has resulted in raids on illegal shops. On Tuesday a Cannabis Culture location in Brantford was raided the day after it opened, but that didn't stop Emery from attending the grand opening of a new store just a 15-minute walk from Parliament Hill. "We have a right to medication that is going to help us," said Sherry Morrison, who attended the rally on the Hill and was one of the first customers at the new dispensary on Bank Street. Morrison's daughter was arrested in the Jan. 31 raid of Weeds on Bank Street, another chain of dispensaries that has attempted to open locations across the country. - - With files from Dylan Robertson - --- MAP posted-by: Matt