May 8, 2024

Mushroom Dispensary in Ottawa

In downtown Ottawa, a storefront called The Golden Teacher has been openly selling mushrooms and other products like gummies and micro-dosing capsules since December 2021. It’s a small shop, but its presence is unmistakable. Owner Jordan Armstrong says he’s a “grey-area research facility” that sells the psychoactive drug psilocybin to learn how it affects people and help them navigate a difficult world. URL magicmushroomsdispensary.ca

Mushroom dispensaries have popped up across Canada in the past few years, taking advantage of legal loopholes that allow pot shops to operate while selling substances that are still illegal under federal law. The shops’ operators say they are helping consumers with mental health issues such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder or people who want to experience spiritual growth or self-discovery.

Advocating for Change: The Push for Further Recognition and Legalization of Magic Mushroom Dispensaries in Canada”

But psilocybin is a Schedule Three controlled substance, meaning it’s illegal to produce, possess or traffic. And while cannabis is legal to grow, consume or sell in most provinces, the same can’t be said for magic mushrooms, which can only be purchased legally with a prescription from a doctor in very specific circumstances.

A panel of city councillors voted Tuesday to reissue the business licence for a mushroom dispensary in Vancouver, and its operator Dana Larsen says that sets a political precedent. She says she would welcome the opportunity to seek a similar license in Ottawa, and that adding mushrooms and psilocybin to the medicinal cannabis licensing framework adopted by city council in 2015 could be a simple solution.

May 3, 2024

Online Account Origination Fraud

Online Account Origination Fraud is a fraud technique where a criminal signs up for a service, product or online account on an e-commerce site, dating app, financial institution, or other platform using stolen or synthetic identities. This type of fraud is often perpetrated by organized crime rings who target high-end products or services and are able to evade detection by blending a variety of different real and fake identities.

Criminals commit this type of fraud by purchasing stolen PII from the dark web or through phishing, vishing and other social engineering attacks. The data is then used to create a synthetic identity which can be used for fraudulent transactions on the platform, such as unauthorized purchases or applying for credit cards and lines of credit. Perpetrators will nurture these accounts for months or even years to build up their credits, at which point they typically strike – a practice known as bust-out fraud.

Combatting Online Account Origination Fraud: Strengthening Verification Processes

The costs for businesses can be devastating, ranging from chargebacks and losses to reputational damage. For example, criminals will use bogus profiles to spread false reviews and misinformation on a service or product causing consumers to choose competitors and ultimately costing the victim business revenue. Criminals will also use these fake profiles to post and sell stolen or cloned payment information (known as card not present fraud) which can be used to make unauthorized transactions on an ecommerce site. To combat this, merchants need to balance a desire to roll out the red carpet during digital onboarding with ensuring that they are assessing all new customers for fraud.

Apr 28, 2024

What to Expect From a Vape Store

Whether it’s an electronic cigarette or another nicotine alternative, a Vape Store is designed to provide customers with a range of products. A vape store also offers a range of smoking accessories, including various rolling papers, filters, lighters and ashtrays. Unlike traditional tobacco smoke shops, however, a vape shop usually specializes in providing e-liquids and hardware devices that help to reduce smoking-related health risks.

These include electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) which use battery-powered heating coils to aerosolize liquid containing propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin mixed with flavors and nicotine (2). ENDS are marketed as a smoking reduction or cessation aid and are available in different flavor strengths and nicotine concentrations (3). Granite Vapor is committed to providing our customers with quality products that focus on safety and are manufactured by leading manufacturers. We strive to stay up to date with the latest advances in hardware devices and e-liquids to give our customers the best options to help them reduce their dependence on traditional cigarettes and other harmful substances.

Essential Products Every Vape Store Should Carry

During naturalistic observations of customers in vape shops, staff were generally friendly and showed a genuine interest in their customers. They also seemed to have an awareness of research and were able to relay findings such as the 2015 Public Health England report that found e-cigarettes are around 95% safer than tobacco. However, a few of the shops were less clear about their role in supporting smokers to quit or cut down on smoking and focused instead on promoting the idea that vaping is more enjoyable and fashionable than conventional smoking.