Chris, Kyle and Cody Caplin are brothers who live at Ugpi'ganjig and who have been on the front lines of the Micmac fight for economic sovereignty for years. Like hundreds of other Indigenous entrepreneurs, when Canada legalized cannabis in 2018, Chris and Cody Caplin opened a sovereign trading post to sell cannabis on reserve. With wide ranging support for the use of cannabis as a medicine in the community, five other cannabis shops followed the lead of the Medicine Cabinet, and have helped to build a thriving cannabis economy in the community.
Posts published in “Police Repression”
From CTV News Montreal by Daniel J Rowe January 30 2023 Some Indigenous communities in Quebec that are patrolled by provincial police say the established system does not fully meet security needs and needs improvement. Constable Kyle Zachary has served his community as a Kahnawake Peacekeeper for 15 years. Like…
From Benzinga by Joanna Scopel January 25 2023 Indigenous South African cannabis growers have been camping in front of the President’s office in Pretoria since 2018. “We won’t be moved (…) It’s our right to cultivate cannabis, and enjoy our way of life,” said King Khoisan SA, reported The Cannabis Culture. Khoisan, one…
In December of last year, the Cape Breton Regional Police Service carried out multiple raids in Membertou First Nation in violation of the constitutionally protected Aboriginal and Treaty Rights of several Mi’kmaq men. On December 13th, 2022 the municipal police force entered into federal “lands reserved for Indians” and raided the premises of Sully's Trading Post and Belly Busters Pizza & Donair to enforce provincial laws.
From Cannabis Life Network by Caleb McMillan December 23 2022 A second Indigenous unlicensed cannabis retail store has opened in London, Ontario. Sewatohwat Cannabis recently opened without approval from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, the province’s cannabis regulator. “The store is operated by sovereign people on sovereign land,” says a sign on the…
The owner of Spirit River Cannabis says he is simply upholding his constitutional rights From CBC by Colin Butler December 15 2022 The Ontario Provincial Police unit responsible for cannabis enforcement says it is currently “looking into” an Indigenous-owned cannabis retail store operating without a licence in London, Ont. “[The…
An unsanctioned Indigenous-run pot shop operating out of a trailer on Wellington Street south of downtown London has landed on the radar of the police unit responsible for upholding Ontario’s cannabis laws. From London Free Press by Dale Carruthers December 14 2022 Provincial police are investigating an unsanctioned Indigenous-run pot shop…
From MJ Biz Daily by Matt Lamers November 11 2022 Some Indigenous leaders believe they’ve been largely excluded from Canada’s multibillion-dollar legal cannabis retail and cultivation industry. That’s the message Indigenous leaders delivered last month at a Senate committee studying the implementation of the country’s federal cannabis law. At the…
DARTMOUTH, NS – Over 40 people accompanied Chris Googoo to his court date at the Dartmouth courthouse on October 11th, 2022. Googoo, an Elected Councillor and entrepreneur in Millbrook First Nation, is raising a constitutional challenge to defend his Aboriginal and Treaty rights to sell cannabis on unceded Indian lands after his shop was raided by the RCMP. Councillor Googoo’s shop in Cole Harbour was raided along with several others on December 23rd, 2020. He was charged under the Cannabis Act with “possessing cannabis for the purpose of selling,” and “possession for the purpose of distributing cannabis.”
From Castanet by Chelsea Powrie October 21 2022 An Oliver cannabis shop was the subject of police and provincial government attention this week. On Oct. 19, RCMP assisted the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General’s Community Safety Unit with enforcement at The Pot Doctor (TPD) Boutique, a business located…