You know who Ross Rebagliati is for one reason, and it ain't cause he's a wiz with those hard-plates. Back in 1998 when snowboarding was first introduced to the greater world through our inclusion in the Olympics (read: they needed better ratings) he made world-wide headlines after temporarily losing his gold medal after they found traces of the green stuff in his blood. After coming to their senses and realizing that smoking pot really wasn't all that much of a performance enhancer, the medal was returned and all was well and good. Many might still say it was an embarrassment or whatever, but in all reality snowboarding and weed go hand-in-hand and it was actually quite fitting and a pretty sweet fuck-off to the IOC.
Fast forward a mellow 15 years (jesus fuck, typing that made me feel old!) and here's good ol' Ross proclaiming to the national media that he is mere months away from setting up a marijuana dispensary in his hometown of Whistler, BC.
Ross accepts his gold medal immedietly after smoking a doob the size of his forearm. Just look at his eyes!
As The Province puts it:
"Olympic gold medallist Ross Rebagliati hopes to strike gold when he sets up a medical marijuana cafe and retail store in Whistler this fall.
“People need what they need on a regular basis and they need to have it available fairly readily — this is why medical marijuana dispensing exists,” Rebagliati told The Province, citing the needs of cancer patients and those dealing with pain following surgery.
“If it’s not accessible, the system just doesn’t work.”
Health Canada announced in December the federal government will no longer produce and distribute marijuana for medical purposes, opening up the market to companies that meet strict security requirements.
Rebagliati plans to take advantage of that policy change by applying to become a medical marijuana producer under the business name Rebagliati Gold Enterprises Ltd. and build a franchise model to license “Ross’s Gold” stores throughout Canada."
Ross with his son Ryan. Kid looks stoned if you ask me. Photo: TBA , PROVINCE
Ummm, ok. Only one problem Ross, there is no way in hell the stuck-up, head-up-their-asses powers-that-be that run Whistler will let that happen. In fact, our ambulance-chasing mayor Nancy "I sue non-profit organizations for breakfast" Wilhem-Morden (a perfect last name for a witch if I ever heard one) might just sue you to drive home the point. I applaud the effort, and mad props on your manipulation of the national media but yeah, I personally don't see it happening. Hopefully I am wrong though.
For more on the story you can check out the full Province article here, CTVNews' coverage here and Macleans take here.
