The BC Marijuana Party headquarters and bookstore (307 West Hastings Street, Downtown, 604-682-1172, www.bcmarijuanaparty.ca) functions as a political and social center for smokers, growers, and activists. Here, you can chat with “experts” on decriminalization advocacy in Canada and the us, and national drug policies around the world.
Don’t be surprised to run into someone who ran on the Marijuana Party platform in a provincial election — the party fielded candidates in all seventy-nine ridings in a recent election and won 53,000 votes. You may have the pleasure of running into party president Marc Em¬ery — a repeat Vancouver mayoral candidate who promises to fire the entire police force and deliver heroin and cocaine to users’ homes; publisher of Cannabis Culture magazine; and claimant to the largest marijuana seed business in the world, dispensed through the Internet.
This storefront also functions as a tourist destination (unheralded by Tourism Vancouver). A wall map of the world holds color-headed pins representing travelers who’ve dropped by: to no one’s surprise, the continental us is chock-a-block with markers.
No doubt, those who work in the party center answer a trillion quer¬ies to the best of their ability; local pro-legalization celebrations and protests are also well promoted.
As well, the center acts as an anchor for pot-culture businesses. The cluster includes the New Amsterdam Café (301 West Hastings Street, 604-682-8955, Downtown), located in the space formerly occupied by the envelope-pushing Cannabis Café — until police and licensing officials closed it for drug violations. A few doors away you’ll find Blunt Bros. (301 West Hastings Street, Downtown, 604-682-5868), both a store and a café.
Both New Amsterdam and Blunt Bros. nurture a dimly lit, ultra-casual atmosphere reminiscent of the “coffee shops” of Amsterdam, where cannabis is legally smoked. Both serve good, light food, and Blunts sells pipes, papers, and T-shirts in keeping with its theme: “a respectable joint.” To this garden of possibilities add Cabbages and Kinx (315 West Hastings Street, Downtown, 604-669-4238). This flashy, chaotic casbah sells jewelry, vintage street wear, wigs, cowboy hats, and boas, as well as pipes galore of wood, blown and tubular glass, metal, and ceramic.
The Compassion Club (Commercial Drive at East 14th Avenue, East Vancouver, 604-875-0448) lobbies on behalf of those who seek marijuana for medical reasons, and maintains a discreet location. Note that it is for members only, although you can visit by appointment.
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