CANADA POST TO INVESTIGATE POSTAL POT SERVICE

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 pot operation, called Bud Buddy, was breaking the law. But the Crown
corporation will probe its 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," John 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 illegal 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."

'Tasty and potent' 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 bud 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," Larsen said.

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

Marijuana is an illegal drug in Canada, and its sale or possession is
outlawed 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.

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