Jodie Emery
Age: 32
Company: Cannabis Culture
Position: Co-owner
A darling of Canada’s activist community, Jodie Emery has been at the forefront of the country’s marijuana legalization movement since 2004. However, this has also made her a target as the federal government has escalated its crackdown on gray market dispensaries.
Law enforcement officials recently raided seven Cannabis Culture dispensaries owned by Emery and her husband, Marc — five in Toronto, one in Vancouver and another in Hamilton. The Emerys now face charges of drug trafficking, conspiracy and possession of marijuana.
Emery, the self-proclaimed Princess of Pot, has been an outspoken critic of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s legalization plan, saying it doesn’t go far enough to repair the damage of prohibition and she remains resolute in her activism in spite of her uncertain future.
“I’m not a criminal. I’m not a dangerous person … and yet this law seeks to put us behind bars, the police call us a threat to public safety,” she told reporters in April, according to the Toronto Star. “When the laws criminalize and harm peaceful people, those laws are unfair.”