Lift Cannabis Expo: Toronto 2016 Review
Lift promo/Credit: Lift
Lift Cannabis Expo lit up thousands as it rolled into Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) this past weekend. Despite a city-wide dispensary crackdown, Toronto's cannabis industry celebrated by the thousands.
The Expo featured over 130 exhibitors from Canada, U.S., and Europe, and industry speakers from around the world. Lift is Canada's largest cannabis trade show, and leading resource for medical cannabis information since 2013.
Lift provides the industry with media coverage through a digital news publication, recently launched a quarterly print magazine, offer cannabis counselling and education, and host the Lift forums, Canada's annual cannabis awards. A secondary Lift Expo has been set to hit Vancouver, and plans to bud September 17-18, 2016.
This year's top exhibitors included major Canadian brand names such as 420 Canada, Canna-Connect, MariCann, Tweed, and Weedmaps. Vendors ranged from local, to international and came in all shapes, forms, and sizes.
Seattle-based company Leafly is the largest cannabis website in the world. The site helps patients determine which strain would be best for their symptoms, and then directs them towards the nearest dispensary. Over 8 million monthly visitors peruse the 40 million page views across its website and mobile applications.
A wide vary of medicinal cannabis culture shops, distributors, doctors, researchers, marketers and advertisers were all in attendance over the weekend as well. All exhibitors are listed on the Lift Cannabis Expo website.
The Expo came at a controversial time, as many of the vendors were local dispensaries, and unable to fully operate inside. Lucky for them... Locals and dispensary owners had the chance to test a vary of new model vaporizers, and for a moment, forget Toronto Police took their good weed. Over one dozen MTCC Reilly Security guards all concurred the vape lounge was well organized, and went off without a hitch.
"There was no risk as we did everything within the rules... There are not edibles here, you can't purchase marijuana, the vape lounge is strictly commercial, and you have to supply your own product. Everything here is legit." said Matei Olaru, Lift Director of Operations.
Attending and speaking this year included known Canadian cannabis activists Marc Emery, Jodie Emery, and Dana Larsen. Marc Emery's Cannabis Culture celebrated its Toronto grand opening Friday, May 27 on Queen Street West, one day after the 'Project Claudia' raids. A second Queen Street East location is set to open within weeks.
"You know it's all one thing at a time in this kind of environment where you're having to negotiate with what happens legally. If you're going to go and raid people who are selling medical, what's the purpose, why sell medical? Why not sell to everybody then... Because if there is nothing sacrosanct about medical then the punishment couldn't be worse than if we sold it for recreational right? I feel that that's the only proper way in legalization that it would look," said Marc Emery. "You sell to whoever comes into your business who's nineteen, and a human being. We know marijuana is safe; it's not our business to know what they are doing. Maybe they are treating their cancer, maybe they are watching their favourite show, maybe they are having sex, and it’s not our business. We are just here to sell it, and to help you."
Jodie Emery (wife of Marc Emery) is an activist, journalist, politician, and business woman. She owns Cannabis Culture Magazine, Pot TV, and Marc Emery's Cannabis Culture Vapour Lounges in Vancouver, B.C.
"We recently opened Cannabis Culture cannabis retail shop for recreational sales to adults here in Toronto at 801 Queen Street West. Now I don't own it... It's a franchise model. Someone very generous has helped us to build the vision that I have for what legalization should look like," said Jodie Emery.
Both Marc and Jodie Emery both feel that people who use and need cannabis should not have to harass their doctors, fake a doctor’s note, or get arrested by police for possession of pot.
Dana Larsen, west coast activist and longtime friend of the Emery's was perhaps the main speaker during Lift. Larsen is an author, politician, and cannabis legislation activist. He was also editor of Cannabis Culture between the years of 1994 and 2005.
Larsen was in high spirits all weekend while signing copies of his new books Green Buds and Hash, and Harry Pothead and the Marijuana Stone.
"This war on cannabis in Canada has gone on for so long, and so many people have been arrested, so many people have been charged. So many have gone to jail, so many have lost their children, lost their jobs, lost their privileges and rights as a human being, and simply only because they enjoy this plant. We are in historic times now...You know, this coming to the end of the war on cannabis in Canada, and this is something that our kids and grandkids will read about in their history books. This is something that is not only in Canada, but is all around the world. This war on cannabis and the greater war on drugs, which I really call a war on plants... A war on the entire world’s most useful, wonderful, medicinal, and culturally relevant plants," said Larsen. "...And the cannabis plant is the world's most useful plant."
