than Dreads & Ganja! - Hot Box Cafe

hotboxcafe.ca
V2
CHICKS DIG BIG SPLIFF!

Photo: James Robertson
ras
...more than Dreads & Ganja!
WATERSOURCE PUBLISHING
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Canada M4S2G8
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PHILOSOPHY, MUSIC, ART & CULTURE
DOCUMENTED IN PHOTOGRAPHS
NOW AVAILABLE
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THE
PARAPHENALIA
GANJA GIRLS
WEED-WEAR
PRO-POT & PROUD
POT POLITICS
STASH
IOLITE
THE HARLETTES
SPLIFF GEAR
PRIDE
NO MORE FLAVOUR
PUBLISHER • ABI ROACH • hotboxcafe@gmail.com
ART DIRECTION & PHOTOGRAPHY • JAMES ROBERTSON
CONTRIBUTORS • Anna Banana • Benni P • Camille Salter • Demetra
MODELS • Maria Juana & The Harlettes • Jennille Seedial • Dwayne Williams
V2
LIMITED EDITION PUBLICATION
ras
PHILOSOPHY, MUSIC, ARTS & CULTURE
DOCUMENTED IN PHOTOGRAPHS
By James Robertson & Alison Cromie

AFTERDARK
Tokers Lounge
193A bALDWIN ST
(uPSTAIRS)
kENSINGTON MARKET
WWW.HOTBOXCAFE.CA

THE HARLETTES
BY ANNA BANANA
Toronto’s foremost burlesque troupe, the
Harlettes, are major advocates normalization
of cannabis use. With Roach-O-Rama/ Hot
Box as their sponsor, the Harlettes give away
many bongs, pipes and papers donated to
them as prizes.
“We like to make sure our audience ‘ave everting
they need for intermission.” Laughs Breezie
LeFleur, host & producer of the Harlettes. “Our
creative comes from a higher state, the initial
stages az well az during rehearsals, we use
cannabis to expand our ‘orizons – so we feel it is
only natural if our audience is there with us.”
Maria Juana & her cousin Indica Irie have made
it their mission to fight this prohibition through
dance and comedy. By “burlesquing” this issue
the ladies inform the audience of the beneficial
uses of cannabis.
“I always have a quick toke before a show, it helps
me to relax.” Says Maria Juana, “my mother
would bake with it when I was a child to keep my
papa quiet.”
Indica Irie admits “Marijuana is a massive part of
our island culture. For my cousin and I it helps with
the lucidity of the dance. We get groovy, funky.”
The Harlettes all admit that although they do not
need weed to be as amazing as they are, they
recognize the benefits it provides and don’t seem
as though there are any plans of slowing down.
“This summer is very busy for us,” choreographer
Chesty LaRue says from behind a puff of smoke,
“we are booked from now until October…we have
no time to alter what works for us.” She giggles
“and boy, does this work”!
At the patio of the Hot Box Afterdark, the Harlettes
continue to pass another king size spliff around,
giggling and creating.
www.harlettes.com

BENNY P the review
IoLITE HanD-HELD VaPorIzEr
As I have previously stated, I enjoy pot.
Cannabis comes in many varieties which
can vary in smell, flavour, intensity, and
even effects. Some varieties make you
energetic, euphoric and spaced-out, while
others turn your body into a gelatinous
blob permanently fixated on the couch (or
at least until one needs to slush over to
the kitchen for a snack). There are even a
variety of ways THC can be consumed. My
personal favourite is vaporization.
So you bought yourself a nice and fancy
electronic home vaporizer for your herbal
pleasure, like the V-Tower Extreme. Now
there is a slight dilemma entering the
time of BBQ’s, patios, trips to the beach,
or just watching the suits in summer
heat scrambling onto the TTC: How do I
vaporize on the go? Hey man, it’s 2009, you
need a hand-held vaporizer!
The perfect solution is The Iolite Handheld
Vaporizer. This vaporizer, which is
about the size of/looks similar to a cell
phone, does not require a battery and has
no flame. On the inside of the device is
re-fillable butane cartridge, piezo ignition
system, and the heating element. All you
do is load the herb chamber, clip on the
mouth piece, ignite, and toke within 45
seconds. The unit regulates the heat to 190
degrees Celsius. Nothing but smooth THC
vapor, ready to inhale anywhere you feel
like going. I am sure your imaginations can
come up with some amazing applications
for such innovative technology...
The Iolite retails for $260 and comes with
a carrying case, full colour instruction
manual, and a whole assortment of
cleaning accessories. It also features a 2 yr
warranty that covers manufacturing defects.
As it is a vaporizer it is odorless, healthy,
and ultimately more efficient than any
combustion-based methods. I think it is the
perfect summer gadget.

COMING OUT
Of THE GROW CLOSET
BY CAMILLE SALTER
Acceptance, Community, and Activism Keys
to the Social Normalization of Marijuana
Use in Canada
It’s the warmest day of Spring so far this
year in the city of Toronto, and I’m sitting in
the outdoor ‘potio’ of Kensington Market’s
Hot Box Café, located at the back of the
Roach-O-Rama head shop. The
establishment’s owner and an advocate of
the full legalization of marijuana, Abi Roach
took some time to talk to me about pot
activism, the social acceptance of its use,
and what inspires her to continue to work
at the heart of the marijuana community.
She pauses as her eyes scan the eclectic
group gathered around the scattered
wooden tables and plastic chairs occupying
the space between colourful, graffiticovered
walls, citizens from all walks of
life with interests as varied as the strains of
marijuana they smoke.
“We have to come out of the pot closet,”
she says to me, smiling ironically. “Instead
of lying about using pot, we have to change
society’s outlook on it.”
How can the pot community in Toronto
and nation-wide achieve social normalcy
and acceptance? Abi’s answer focuses
on the current illegal status of marijuana
possession in Canada and the need for
proponents of its use to be honest about
their opinions. “Where there is no harm,
there’s no foul,” she says. “That same
principle has been used by the gay rights
movement for decades.”
Abi lists three important queues the
marijuana community in Toronto and
throughout Canada can take from the gay
and lesbian rights movement to further
aims of pot legalization: acceptance,
community, and activism.
Acceptance, for Abi, revolves around the
fact that, “… we are equal no matter what.
Gay or straight, whether you enjoy weed or
alcohol, are homeless or a wealthy financial
executive. We are all just people.”
And like the battle currently in the Ontario
provincial courts fighting for the legal
redefinition of the family structure to
fully include parents of the same sex, Abi
believes that in order for the marijuana
community to obtain normalization and
acceptance in Canada, its members must
make use of the democratic legal process
available to all citizens.
“The gay rights movement provides an
excellent example for the pot community
to follow,” Abi says. Prior to 1970,
homosexuality was a criminal offence in
Canada. Anyone accused of homosexual
activities could be tried as a sex offender
and, if convicted, would serve a lengthy
term in prison.
Homosexuality was finally decriminalized
in 1969 by Trudeau’s federal Liberals, a
long overdue change necessitated by
cases like that of Everett Klippert who,
in 1965, admitted to police while under
interrogation about an unrelated crime that
he had engaged in homosexual relations
with several men over a period of about
two years. Mr. Klippert was charged and
sentenced to an indefinite prison term as a
result of the trial, triggering public debate
on the issue nation-wide.
By the year 2000, gays and lesbians in
Canada saw the enacting of legislation
prohibiting discrimination on the basis
of sexual orientation in areas such as
employment, immigration, and military
service. The efforts of lobbyists, chartible
organisations and interest groups like
EGALE ensured that, by 2003, the first
Canadian court challenge fighting for the
legal recognition of same-sex marriages
was initiated.
On the other hand, the battle for the social
acceptance and legalization of marijuana
has taken a much different direction. In
March of just this year, Canada’s federal
Conservative party introduced Bill C-15,
legislation mandating minimum prison
terms for Canadians charged with the
possession of marijuana.
“The ramifications of the continued illegal
status of marijuana possession are a matter
of social safety,” Abi continues, echoing
a very similar argument made by the gay
and lesbian community in the 1960’s and
70’s in favour of the decriminalization of
homosexuality. Maintaining a safe social
atmosphere for members of the marijuana
community and those curious about it to
connect is a large part of what inspires Abi
to continue to run the pot-friendly Hot
Box Café and Roach-O-Rama head shop
each week.
Opened in 2003, the Hot Box Café became
available to pot-friendly patrons just a year
after the doors opened to Roach’r’Rama
in Toronto‘s Kensington Market. Enforcing
a strict 18+ age limit, a ‘no mooching, no
selling, no buying’ policy, and a general
interest in keeping activities there low key,
Abi is very serious about her philosophy
of equal social opportunity and the need
for strong ties in the community. Early this
year, she expanded her operations further,
unveiling the After Dark: a late-night,
stoner-friendly smart bar (that means no
alcohol) available to patrons during the
evening hours.
Despite the shadow of Bill C-15 looming
on Ontario’s political horizon, the sun
has by no means set on the potential of
Toronto’s marijuana community to obtain
normalization for their shared interest in
weed, and while there’s a waking moment
left, Abi Roach intends to keep fighting,
working, and ensuring that the Hot Box
and Roach-O-Rama remain available as a
location-solution for the social engagement
of members, potential and current, of the
marijuana community.
“Pot is fun and relaxing,” Abi says as she
takes a long draw off the end of a fragrant,
expertly rolled marijuana cigarette.
“It attracts people from all sorts of
backgrounds and brings them together on
common ground in a peaceful way. Where
is the harm in that?”

Summer is here,
and it’s time to get some...
POT-POSITIVE ACCESSORIES!!!
AVAILABLE AT:
RED EYE GLASS $50
Available at:
Roach-o-Rama / Hot Box Cafe
SWAG T-SHIRT $25
Available at:
Roach-o-Rama / Hot Box Cafe
KUSH
(not available at Roach-o-Rama)
GEAR
ROACH-O-RAMA
ALSO STOCKS:
BONGS, PIPES,
PAPERS & OTHER
ESSENTIAL
STONER-GEAR

DO YOU ENJOY YOUR
fLAVOURED BLUNT WRAPS??
THE GoVErnMEnT IS TrYInG To
TaKE THEM aWaY FroM YoU!!
BY DEMETRA of HBI
Bill C-32 – An Amendment to the Tobacco
Act. A proposal to ban the use of flavours in
Little Cigars/Cigarillos and Blunts.
“Why is this Bill a big deal and who cares?”
Our Canadian Government is trying to strip
our freedom of choice!!! Everyone should
care, this is not just about flavoured tobacco.
If they get away with taking this freedom
away, what is to stop them from passing a
Bill banning flavoured alcohol.
The government is convinced that there are
too many yummy flavours of Cigarillos and
Blunts on the market, that we as a society
have a big problem. Never mind the rising
numbers of personal bankruptcies, factory
closings and job losses across Canada, the
government has decided to focus in on a
“more important” issue – banning flavoured
cigarillos and blunts. The government is
trying to convince the nation that only minors
are smoking flavoured tobacco products.
“People in the age group between 25-60
would never smoke a flavoured Cigarillo
or Blunt!” is what they say at the table in
the House of Commons. But this is where
the common sense of the people must
kick in. “How could youth and underage
smokers be the only ones consuming these
products when retailers have to ask for I.D.
at all times?” Anyone who has ever
frequented a tobacco or head shop
can tell you undoubtedly that ALL
legal ages of consumers are buying
tobacco products – flavoured or not –
young and old.
When asked how the government has
come to this conclusion and how do they
know which consumers are using these
products, they readily admit that they have
no research nor any solid recent stats as to
the consumption of these products.
This is clear hypocrisy and deceit. To pass
a Bill that is based on assumptions, that
will affect many legal businesses and jobs,
and stomps all over our freedom of choice,
without asking any stakeholders for input –
is just plainly WRONG! They are trying to
pass this bill by end of June, hoping that
we will not be able to organize ourselves
to fight for our freedoms. We need to
demand that our voice is heard. This is
what we call Democracy!
Keep the Flavour alive !!!! SToP Bill C-32!
If you oppose Bill C-32, sign our online
Facebook Petition: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/289977/6355323
1?m=fb5a6ed7&ref=nf
High-Quality Seeds
AVAILABLE AT ROACH-O-RAMA

Bathurst St
HOT BOX CAFE / ROACH-O-RAMA AND HOT BOX AFTERDARK ARE POT POSITIVE ESTABLISHMENTS ........
Lippincott St
College St
THE DISTRICT
Baldwin
Street
Ellen Ave
Bellevue Ave
Augusta Ave
Dundas St
Oxford St
Nassau Ave
Baldwin St
Kensigton Ave
afterdark
Spadina Ave