UP IN SMOKE-- HEMP AND MARIJUANA STORE ON TRACK FOR $1 MILLION IN SALES

Books, Smoking Paraphernalia Easily Outsell Hemp Products Like Paper And
Clothing, And Police Are Keeping A Close Eye

Vancouver's hemp and marijuana store is on target for $1 million in annual
sales from its wholesale and retail business, says its proprietor.

"We never smoke on the job," says Marc Emery in explaining the clear-minded
business nature of the enterprise of Hemp B.C. The Marijuana & Hemp Centre
for Greater Vancouver. And rather than being a purely political stunt, he
maintains, the business was opened to be economically viable as well as to
stimulate social change.

Commercial success aside, however, Hemp B.C. is flouting federal
legislation, and the Vancouver Police Department is keeping a watchful eye.
The 700-square-foot store on Hastings Street near Victory Square has been
open since July 7, selling about 30 hemp products including clothing,
shampoo, cheese substitutes, shoes, paper and ink, as well as an array of
marijuana-smoking accessories such as pipes, bongs and rolling papers. The
difference between hemp and marijuana is the absence of THC, a chemical
compound that works as a psychological stimulant.

Hemp B.C. earns 60 per cent of its revenues from wholesaling books on
marijuana and hemp to 20-plus retailers across Canada. The balance comes
from retail sales, with smoking accessories outselling hemp products 65 per
cent to 35 per cent.

Though the sale of marijuana paraphernalia and literature was outlawed in
1988, Hemp B.C. has so far operated without police interference, says
Emery. But VPD media representative Constable Anne Drennan says: "We
haven't turned a blind eye. We haven't moved on this business because of
other priorities. They know that we are aware of them and that at some
point we'll take appropriate action."

Hemp B.C. publishes Marijuana & Hemp Magazine and operates in cyberspace,
where it keeps a month-old electronic-mail order service on the World Wide
Web. It is also expanding, in an indirect manner: Ian Hunter, a former Hemp
B.C. employee, opened an independent store called Sacred Herb, the Hemp
Store in Victoria in late February with a non-repayable loan of $12,000
from Emery.*