POSTAL POT DEALER CLOSES DOWN SHOP

VANCOUVER -- A Vancouver-based mail-order marijuana service being
probed by Canada Post and city police says it's going out of business.

The embattled web dealer Bud Buddy said Monday it was having to shut
down because of a media firestorm and the prospect of being busted by
police.

"I cannot stay in business when there are TV crews outside the place
where I pick up my mail," Bud Buddy's operator said in an anonymous
e-mail.

"Bud Buddy is going to shut down before I have to deal with a police
bust like Da Kine."

The Da Kine pot cafe on Commercial Drive closed last week following
the arrest of owner Carol Gwilt and seven employees on
marijuana-trafficking charges.

Bud Buddy had been selling pot across Canada for more than a
year.

It told customers to order the "high-quality" herb via regular mail or
Canada Post Xpresspost, sending cash to a Vancouver postal box.

The postal pot operator boasted of giving a "fast, discreet" service
to those who declared they suffered from one of a host of medical
ailments, ranging from muscle spasms to mood swings.

Canada Post said Monday its legal officials were aware of Bud
Buddy.

"They're just going to look at this and they'll talk to our security
people as well and go from there," said Ottawa-based spokesman John
Caines.