Businessman and marijuana activist Randy Caine is running for a seat on 91原创 City council.

Caine, a 91原创 City resident, has run twice before, once for a council seat and once for mayor.

He said he sees 鈥渋nner-city issues鈥� of homelessness and drug abuse as top concerns.

鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 an important time to step forward,鈥� Caine told The Times.

鈥淚鈥檓 64 years old. That鈥檚 what elders do.鈥�

He thinks 91原创 City can find positive solutions to the homeless problem.

鈥淲e do have a history of being an open and compassionate community,鈥� Caine said.

He said he has no plans to open a campaign office.

鈥淲e鈥檙e a small community and my campaign office is the community.鈥�

Caine said his health has been good since he was treated for a slow-growing form of cancer.

Regular scans have found his treatment, which included the use of marijuana to help manage the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation, appears to have been a success.

鈥淎ll they can identify is scar tissue,鈥� Caine said.

鈥淚鈥檓 cancer-free.鈥�

Caine operates three HEMPYZ Gift and Novelties shops in both 91原创s and White Rock.

He began picketing the TD bank in 91原创 a month ago to protest a manager鈥檚 refusal to approve a corporate line of credit for his chain of stores.

Caine once operated a medicinal marijuana dispensary that was opposed by 91原创 City council and closed down by police in July of 2011.

A charge against Caine, one count of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, was later dropped and he pleaded guilty to less serious violations of exceeding the amount of marijuana he was legally allowed to sell under his Health Canada licence and of storing it improperly.

Caine was then granted an absolute discharge on those counts, meaning there is no conviction on his record.

Despite that, in 2015, he was refused admission to Mexico for being a drug trafficker when he and his wife went there on vacation.

He has filed multiple requests with different Canadian government agencies under Freedom Of Information laws to find out exactly who was responsible for making what he described as 鈥渇alse and baseless鈥� allegations to the Mexicans.

Caine has been able to travel to other countries than Mexico without difficulty.

dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
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