CANADA POST TO PROBE B.C.'S 'BUD BUDDY'

Marijuana-By-Mail Operation Offers 7 Grams For $70

VANCOUVER - Canada Post has said it will investigate a Vancouver-based
marijuana mail-order business that provides "fast, discreet" service to
those declaring they suffer from one of a host of medical ailments.

Canada Post spokesman John Caines said it would be up to police to say
whether the postal cannabis operation, called Bud Buddy, was breaking the
law. But the Crown corporation will probe the firm's use of the national
mail service.

"I'll bring it up to our legal people and they'll advise us on what we're
going to do then," Mr. Caines said from Ottawa. "We're going to look into it."

B.C. solicitor general Rich Coleman, meanwhile, said yesterday that he
hoped police would launch their own investigation into what seemed to be
simply another way of selling an illegal drug.

"My expectations are no different on this than it would have been on the Da
Kine cafe," he said referring to the Vancouver cafe that closed this week
following the arrest of owner Carol Gwilt and seven employees on marijuana
trafficking charges.

"If law enforcement is made aware of something that's illegal, my
expectation is that it would be investigated and the laws of the country
would be enforced."

Bud Buddy (www.budbuddy.biz) has been in business since August of last
year. It describes itself as "Canada's premium mail-order marijuana
delivery service."

It claims to provide "world class marijuana" -- ranging from California
Orange to Jamaican Sugar and Durban Poison -- that is "always clean,
well-cured, tasty and potent." On its website, it offers three grams of
marijuana for $35, seven for $70, 14 for $130 and 28 for $250.

Bud Buddy ships only in Canada. And it tells customers to place their order
only via regular mail or Canada Post Xpresspost, sending cash or a money
order (plus a $10 shipping fee) to a postal box.

Dana Larsen, editor of Cannabis Culture Magazine, said he could recommend
Bud Buddy (one of three marijuana mail-order websites he knows of) as
reliable and honest. But he wouldn't reveal the name of the person
operating it.

"He's a Vancouver person who decided this would be a good way to get
marijuana to people who need it," Mr. Larsen said.

An e-mail attempt to get an interview with Bud Buddy was unsuccessful
yesterday.

Marijuana is illegal in Canada except for federally sanctioned medicinal
purposes.

On its order form, Bud Buddy asks customers to certify they are over 18 and
suffer from one of a long list of "applicable ailments" cannabis is said to
relieve or treat.

The list includes anorexia, mood swings, constipation, panic disorder, and
muscle spasms.

Mr. Caines said unless authorized by Health Canada, medical marijuana is
not supposed to be shipped through the mail.

Meanwhile, Vancouver's controversial marijuana cafe is closed, but the
debate rages on.

With Carol Gwilt's re-arrest for allegedly possessing more than a kilo of
marijuana, the experiment she, Donald Briere, and others engaged in by
opening the Da Kine Smoke and Beverage Shop has probably come to an end.

All that is left now is a Vancouver city council hearing on Oct. 6 to lift
Da Kine's business licence.

On Friday, the shop remained locked, empty of the large volumes of
marijuana that had allegedly flown off its shelves in recent months.