Pubdate: Thu, 20 Jul 2017
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Jacquie Miller
Page: A5

EX-BUDTENDER MULLS OPTIONS IN BID TO KEEP RECORD CLEAN

Selena Holder was struggling to pay her rent with part-time jobs when
a friend told her about a pot shop on Rideau Street.

When she dropped by the WeeMedical Dispensary Society in September
2016 and the manager offered her a job, Holder didn't ask too many
questions.

"(The manager) said 'It's a grey area, and we haven't had any problems
with the cops. And if we do, we have really good lawyers for you.'
"

Other marijuana dispensaries had opened on Bank Street, Preston Street
and Montreal Road.

"They are on major streets and the cops haven't done anything," Holder
thought. "Maybe it's OK."

The job didn't pay much - $12 an hour - but was full-time.

"I wanted to see if I could get myself out of debt for the first time
in a long time and buy myself things," explains the soft-spoken
Holder. She's been on her own since leaving home at 16 and has
struggled with mental health problems.

Holder, 21, worked at the dispensary for six weeks before police came
through the door, charging her with drug trafficking. That ended not
only her job, but her plans to take a veterinary technician course.

"It took me so long to find a purpose and a reason to be here," Holder
says, explaining how she vowed to turn her life around three years ago
after doing a high school co-op placement at a veterinary hospital and
discovered a passion for working with animals.

"Now my purpose feels like it's fizzing out in front of
me."

Holder got her high school diploma last month. But she can't do the
vet tech course if she has a criminal record, because it requires work
placements. Most jobs require criminal record checks, she says.

Now Holder faces an agonizing choice. Does she plead guilty and hope a
judge will spare her? Four of her fellow budtenders in Ottawa have
pleaded guilty to drug trafficking: two received criminal records and
two did not.

Or does she proceed to trial and take her chances there? That's
unknown territory because no trials have been held yet, in either
Ottawa or Toronto. Holder said she'd prefer "option C" - having the
charges withdrawn - but that has not happened in Ottawa.
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MAP posted-by: Matt