by Valerie MacDonald, Cobourg Now April 2018
Long-time tour operator, Peter Brotherhood of Brotherhood Tours, is offering what he is calling Canada’s first cannabis tour in Northumberland County.
The day tour is entitled: A Cannabis Tour: Healing Body, Mind and Spirit. The first booking has been made on Saturday, April 20 for a middle-aged Toronto group, Brotherhood said in an interview Tuesday night in a telephone conversation from Florida.
In addition to a stop (but not a tour of) FV Pharma, the former Kraft plant in Cobourg recently given the federal government go-ahead to produce a second lot of medical cannabis plants, the tour will stop at two of the string of cannabis retail outlets along County Road 45 near Roseneath.
“We will hear from Ojibway elders about their use of traditional herbal medicines to heal the body, mind and spirit. At two of the Alderville First Nation stores, the Green Room and the Medicine Wheel, guests may purchase cannabis in its many forms, from dried flowers and buds to tinctures, salves and edible products, including gummies,” a media release states.
Asked if there are any restrictions connected with the tour, Brotherhood stressed this is “not a family tour” and “not for teenagers.” It is for adults. Some of the outlets require identification, a brief medical history and medical need for the cannabis before people can buy, he said.
On the bus, people will not be able to consume their purchases.
“It is like wine (bus) tour,” Brotherhood added.
The tour guide said he did the leg work last spring on what is known locally as the “Green Mile” along County Road 45 in Alderville First Nation. He was surprised that he had trouble in parking at some of the outlets because there were so many cars and that this was on a weekday, not a weekend.
Brotherhood calls this a “groundbreaking” tour that will educate people about cannabis.
It may also include a stop at a farm specializing in plants used for “herbal remedies” but that is yet to be confirmed, he said.
For more details go to www.peterbrotherhoodtours.com/shopping and by contacting Peter Brotherhood at brotherhoodtours@gmail.com or 727-242-5470.