SURREY MAN'S NEW JOINT IRKS LANGLEY

Surrey North Delta Leader Surrey Man's New Joint Irks Langley

Randy Caine is no stranger to struggles with the authorities.

Last Friday, Caine opened Hempyz in downtown Langley.

Billed as "your one-stop potleaf shop," the store is a gift and
novelty shop with a pot leaf theme, but it doesn't sell marijuana
paraphernalia like pipes and bongs.

On opening day, the city - which denied Hempyz a business licence
because, according to Mayor Peter Fassbender, "any business with
hemp-related materials doesn't conform with our zoning bylaws" -
fined Caine $100.

"If I had pipes and bongs, it may be quite different," Caine says.

"But really, it's gifts, novelties and jokes. People see that and
they come in and they're happy with it. I'm talking young and old.
It's not like it's offensive."

You might recall Caine, 54, as the owner-operator of The Joint coffee
house in Surrey.

Surrey council also denied Caine a business licence for the entire 18
months his shop operated from 1995 to 1997.

"They really kept the place under negative scrutiny for quite a
period of time," he says.

Caine, who was born and raised in Surrey, was also the Marijuana
Party candidate for Surrey-Panorama Ridge in the 2001 provincial
election, garnering less than three per cent of the vote.

Ten years ago, he waged a lengthy court battle to repeal Canada's
Criminal Code ban on marijuana, arguing that it violated the Charter
of Rights and Freedoms.

Caine launched the constitutional challenge - which made it all the
way to the Supreme Court of Canada - after being arrested in White
Rock with a joint that weighed 0.5 grams.

Ultimately the court ruled against him.

Caine also took on the City of Surrey in 2001 after it passed a bylaw
aiming to control illegal indoor marijuana grow operations.

Back in Langley City, having been fined for operating without a
licence, Caine is girding for another fight.

"Fortunately for me," he says, "that (bylaw infraction) ticket gives
me access to a provincial court of law."