Jodie Emery's new hemp caf opens in Kensington Market

When coffee shop andKensingtonMarket staple Casa Acoreanaclosedits doors in June afternearly56 years in business, the community opened their arms to Jodie Emery who took over its 235 Augusta Ave.location Saturday.

Emery, who has been dubbed "the pot princess" through her and her husband's activism with legal cannabis, opened Jodie's Joint,a coffee shop geared towards the promotion of hemp products.

"Canadians have grown hemp for a very long time, and I think we have huge opportunities ahead,"she said. "The hemp plant has been used for centuries in food, fuel and fibre products. You can build almost anything with it."

Emery says she sees a bright future for hemp products as an alternative resource.Hemp is not a controlled substance under Canadian law, but itrequires licensing for industrial and commercial use.

And her new cafgoes all in on hemp in many ways. Its wood countertop, where the coffee is served, has been rubbed with hemp oil. The space is also covered with white, hemp-based wallpaper andfresh plants.

There is more that makes the coffee shop differentas well with a live DJ spinningmusic forcafcustomers.