Ted Smith’s Hempology 101 Eastern Tour

By Al Graham – P.A.C.E. www.pace-online.ca

Late November is a time of year where many peo-ple work at making sure that their homes are prepared for the upcoming cold winter months, that is unless you’re like Ted Smith.

For Ted he chose to go on an East Coast Tour with his book Hempology 101.

His plan was to cover the Atlantic provinces and a couple of places in Ontario before heading back home for Christmas.

Ted has always seemed to be attracted to Universities for some reason. I bet it has to do with a couple of them starting up their own Hempology group to keep the message going. The other great thing about going to these locations is it allows him to reach out to an age group that needs to get more involved with our political process. After all they are the next wave of post-education cannabis advocates.

Ted kicked things off in the Nova Scotia where he visited and spoke to about 25 people at Dalhousie University. To do this Ted also brought in guest speakers such as John Perry of the Green Party and Debbie Shultz –Griffen, a spokesperson and co-founder of MUMM (Martimers United for Medical Marijuana) to join him. I’m sure Debbie would have spoken about the benefits of cannabis not only for patients but also for everyone else. With the Green Party having a policy that supports the legalization of cannabis you know John had lots to say on the subject. From there Ted moved onto Mount Allison University located near Sackville, Nova Scotia where he was able to reach out to approximately 60 people. Joining Ted for on this evening was Marcel Gignac from the Medical Cannabis Patients Alliance of Canada and Jes James who is involved with the Halifax Compassion Club.

Next on Teds journey was his stop in Ottawa where he brought his tour to the local library. While he didn’t have a room at the Ottawa University to speak he did get Ottawa University Law Professor Eugene Oscapella to join the discussion. Also joining them were Russell Barth, one of Canada’s leading published cannabis letter writers and Adam Greenblatt of the Montreal Medical Cannabis Access Society.

Toronto Seminar

While I couldn’t attend the previous events I was able to attend the one Ted held in Toronto at the Downsview Library. On this night Ted had arranged five speakers for the evening’s discussion that would involve not only his book but also patients, vapor lounge start up information, how to run a compassion center to being involved in almost everything. In order to do this Ted arranged for his partner Gayle Quinn, Ben Reaburn from Vapor Social, Neeve of C.A.L.M. and the Publisher of Treating Yourself Magazine Marco Renda to speak about their situations and how they got started.

While Ted was setting things up I joined Marco for a walk to his car. Upon arriving he asked me to help him bring in a large bin full of TY bags that he brought for all the peo-ple who would be attending. These TY Hemp Carrying Bags contained the latest issue of TY and Glass Culture Magazines as well as the just released DVD from the 2012 TY Expo. Once we got inside we added in the latest issue of Cannabis Digest, which Ted supplied and we began to hand them out.

After a quick apology for some confusion about the loca-tion and for being a bit late, Ted got things started by talk-ing a bit about the history behind his book and why he was doing the tour. Otherwise he kept the introduction brief and then introduced his first speaker Gayle Quinn.

Patients

Gayle took a seat in a chair near the front of the room. From there she started to tell us that she first used cannabis at the age of thirteen. For her though this wasn’t for recreational use like most teens of that age, but for Gayle, it was to control the pain and discomfort of becom-ing a woman. She talked about how she had to teach her-self everything about herbs and how she had planted some seeds in her back yard. She also shared the joys of getting her first harvest off. Her self taught education continued as she purchased cannabis cook books to learn how to bake medibles that contained cannabis in them as she pre-ferred eating over smoking. She also learned how to make her own suave and creams to help deal with infections that she has had her whole life.

Gayle also suffered from digestive disorders and fat aller-gies. At one point she had to deal with mercury poisoning which she says through off her immune system which led to many of her health problems. She had to take control of the food she ate so she learned about eating and grow-ing different garden herbs. She would use these in her pan-cakes mix or were made into an olive oil for baking. She believes that switching to her home grown toxin free herbs saved her life as she was given only six years to live at one point.

Not only was her health bad but she even found herself homeless and on the street. As time went on things changed for Gayle as she was able to spend some time with her dad and after finding the Cannabis Buyers Club (CBC). The setting and the good karma that she felt while at the CBC has now turned into a way of life for her. She continues to be actively involved with the club and looks forward to the challenges ahead.

Beginnings of Hempology 101

When Gayle was finished Ted Smith took the floor where he touched on many things, from the science behind cannabis to where things are today with the buyers club and Hempology 101. He shared with us some of his knowledge on cannabiniods and how our own bodies produce a similar chemical called endocannabinoids. Ted touched on how they can be consumed through smoking, eating and the topical applications to help relax nerves or to help out with inflammation as cannabis has anti-inflammatory benefits.

Ted moved on from the science of cannabis to the history of Hempology 101. He shared the stories of gathering around at the campus at 4:20 every day and how the school had banned smoking. This caused quite the issue as Ted got arrested, which actually increased the attendance at the next 420 gathering where over 320 students showed up for the daily ritual. The daily gatherings then lead to a “reeferendum” where the student body actually voted in an exception for the Hempology group so they could con-tinue. Ted also told us that the Hempology group in Alberta is working with the Alberta Health Services to change their description of cannabis within their litera-ture.

Ted closed things up with a review of the CBC and the Owen Smith (no relation to Ted) situation. He told every-one how the case developed and what had transpired. If you’re not aware of Owen’s case he was the CBC’s baker who got arrested. When the trial ended cannabis deriva-tives were made legal for MMAR licensed people in British Columbia but Owen still had to stand trial for helping sick people get better. Ted compared this to mak-

ing maple syrup illegal even though it comes from legal trees. When it came to the CBC’s other case, the one to deal with taxes, Ted told us that things look resolved and he will be required to pay $150,000 in HST for a six month period with more to come. When I asked him how the government can collect taxes on something that they consider illegal he replied that the government wants to collect taxes on all money legal or otherwise. He said these troubles started when the police complained to the Canada Revenue Services after CBC had beaten them in part one of the Owen Smith case.

Starting a Vapor Lounge

Up next was Ben Reaburn, one of the owners at Vapor Social. Ben came to talk to those in attendance about setting up a Vapor Lounge, or a Medical Marijuana Consumption Facility as the City of Toronto likes to call them.

Ben told us that he wasn’t always a cannabis consumer or an advocate until coming to Toronto as an adult. Ben was into music and got to know a lot of people within the city. From there he got to know some of the many nice people within the cannabis movement which opened his eyes to see some positive interacting experiences. Being he wasn’t a smoker the item that got him involved was the introduc-tion of the vapourizer which has no smoke.

With these two enjoyable things, experiences and vaporiz-ers he chose to join in with some people to start up a Vapor Lounge. In the beginning there were many things for them to consider. Did they want it to be flashy? Did they want to be loud and out in the public or have a location that feel as if they were in their own  living  room?  Where should  it  be  located  and what kind of are also big things that he they worked at before picking their location.

Once the location is chosen Ben shared his thoughts on how to make your b usiness acceptable in your location. He  suggested that when you set one of these places up that you should approach the businesses that are in the area. He said that you should talk to other businesses about what your goals are and that your there to be part of the community and not be a hindrance to it. Let them know that you’re interested in being active in your business community by joining the local BIA and by getting involved in other ways. Basically make this new style of business feel like it is part of a normal society.

Ben also touched on some of the rules that have to be implemented such as no tobacco or alcohol products, minimum age requirements and no soliciting or the selling of cannabis would be allowed.

Once you have moved into your location he suggested that you create some kind of entertainment for your busi-ness. This could be anything from comedy to acoustic music to complete bands. Do you want to have snack foods or prepare meals? In the end whatever you do one should create a lounge that allows people to come and socialize and become part of the main stream. Once you do these things they will go a long way in making your business feel like what it should be, a legal business.

Setting up a Compassion Center

When it came time to talk about compassion centers this job went to Neeve who runs Cannabis As Living Medicine also known as C.A.L.M.. Neeve got things going by talking about how C.A.L.M. had gone fourteen years trouble free until the two raids that happened over a year ago. He didn’t have too much to say about these raids as they are still before the courts but he seemed pretty con-fident that things will work out for them.

Neeve talked about their importance to those who are sick and ill and cannot grow or provide for themselves. He also stressed that he was disappoint-

ed that the new Health Canada regulations will not allow for licensed dispensaries and won’t even look at regulating them. It makes one wonder why wouldn’t take existing businesses, which are already set up and ready to go versus  creating  a  new system,  a  system  with people  that  may  not have the expertise that these centers have on the products but also the alternative ways of using   cannabis    as medicine.

Canada has over thirty different  compassion  clubs presently operating in this country   and   eight    of

them have joined together to form a larger support group. This group is to not only there to help educate the public but to also add regulation and a common precise way in how centers are to run as a legal business. This group is known as The Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries (CAMCD), which according to their website is “ a not-for-profit corporation, has been established with the mandate to promote a regulated community-based approach to medical cannabis access and to support med-ical cannabis dispensaries to provide the highest quality of patient care.”

From there we learned that these centers are set up like any other businesses as they require workers, suppliers and customers in order to operate. They have come full circle from being located in areas that are low priority unseen locations to places that are now visible through signage and on the main streets. Some have even taken to moving into commercial medical buildings so that the patient can go from their doctor’s right to the center, much in the way people go from the doctors to the pharmacy.

From there Neeve took a lot of questions from the people who attended. They wanted to know how to set up grow-ers, start their own center and what it takes to set up and run the Global Marijuana March, something that Neeve and C.A.L.M. started a dozen years ago.

Multiple Cannabis Businesses

The final speaker of the night was the Publisher and Editor  of  Treating  Yourself  Magazine  Marco Renda. Marco welcomed everyone and thanked them for coming. He started off by telling us a bit about his history and how he started consuming cannabis at the age of twelve. He told us that one thing led to another and before he knew it ended up in rehab.

From there he told us the drug that  helped  him  with  his problems was the cannabis plant which he called his gate out  and not his gateway drug  it is so often called.

Probably due to his past troubles and his use of longer takes any other pharmaceuticals while he deals with his medical    problems     that include IBS, GERD, Arthritis and other conditions. This brought him to how he was involved in the  now  famous  Hitzig case, one of the cases that turned medical cannabis into an option for so many and is still used today to fight medical cannabis cases before the courts. Like most other legal cannabis users he is no different as he to waits long periods for his license to arrive and has found it a constant battle almost since day one. He shared stories of Health Canada calling up his doctors and having them apply pressure on them to reduce his prescription and wondered, if they can do that, what stops them from calling up your pharmacy or your doctor to have them reduce your pills.

Marco talked how Treating Yourself got started and how at one time it was just a website which allowed med patients to get together and share their experiences and medicine. Unfortunately for him this led to an appearance before the courts as they didn’t like his sharing and caring generosity. He faced trafficking charges even though most of his customers never paid for the cannabis that they received. He reminded everyone that we need to know our rights and even suggested that you get a human rights advocate as a friend in order for people to get better edu-cated. This is something that he has used several times throughout his travels. Such as when he goes to Europe and has had to use these skills to help him get out of a bind. He fully believes that all medical cannabis patients should be allowed to travel with their medication from one legal country to another such as they do with some countries in Europe.

He touched on how to bring cannabis into the main stream which is something that the TY Expo has done. He shared stories of advocates from the age of 18 to over 70 years of age volunteering at public events such as the Toronto National Women’s Show and the National Home and Garden Show, both being the largest of their kind in North America. Being able to get into these shows has allowed TY to reach out to people who may never learn a thing about cannabis. A big thank you goes out to the people who spend days at these shows spreading cannabis knowledge and TY to the unsuspecting show attendees. Once TY was up and off the ground he took his business-es further and further. It has gotten to the point where he has built what some would call an empire or a fantastic cannabis business model. The little website that started things is now two cannabis related magazines, a vapor lounge, a glass shop and the only cannabis expo in all of Canada. This doesn’t include his joint adventures such as working with a European company to develop cannabis with higher CBD counts in order to improve the plants overall medical effectiveness. This government approved lab was going about doing its officially approved work when one day in walked the local authorities who arrest-ed all the people involved. While this is wrong he did let us know that the work will continue once the lawsuit against the police is settled

When it came to opening up the Vape on the Lake vapor lounge Marco told us that like Ben he searched for a long time to find the proper location. He wanted to make sure that it was accessible for all patients and to do so he had to find one that had excellent wheel chair access. He also got other items for the handi-capped such as movable chairs and tables along with wide open space for them to be moved around in. It didn’t stop there as he had two large washrooms built with large doors for easy access and toilet stalls that had grab bars in them. He told us he had to fight off the lies and accusations by the local community but after working with his neighbours and the businesses around him he now says he has the support in writing from over fifteen places. Marco also mentioned that he has the support of the local Conservative MP. He gets this support because he proved to them and others that vapor lounges can improve an area that was once used by people that some call undesirables.

Vape on the Lake isn’t a business that has big cannabis leaf on its front window. Instead it shows fish swim-ming around under the sea with vapor bags in their months. This has led some unsuspecting shoppers to enter the lounge believing it was a fish store.

Marco says his reward for doing what he does will come later in life. For now it’s all about the patients and seeing the happy smiles on their face. For him getting the education out there to the educated and uneducat-ed is important and believes that science is on our side.

In the end

When the day was over and I had arrived back home I emailed Ted and asked him if he could share an experience from his tour. He wrote to say “The highlight was an 8 minute live interview on CTV evening news that was played all across the east coast.” He went on to say that “everyone we met was wonderful and we wish we could have stayed for much longer everywhere we went. This is such a beautiful country.” As far as to how he thought things went, he wrote to tell me “It was a dream come true. Being able to strike out across the country to establish Hempology 101 clubs and build a national coalition of student clubs has been my goal for 17 years. Though it was a struggle trying to organize so many conventions, in such a short time, in some places I had never even been to, we successfully plant-ed the seeds of Hempology 101 into the minds of many people. It will be wonderful to see how the group grows.”

Something tells me that Teds planting of the Hempology seeds will grow into advocates that will spread their knowledge onto others. These seeds, I know will keep the cannabis/hemp message alive and growing for many years to come.