{"id":616,"date":"2020-08-21T16:08:25","date_gmt":"2020-08-21T16:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/templemedicinal.com\/?page_id=616"},"modified":"2020-08-21T16:28:25","modified_gmt":"2020-08-21T16:28:25","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/templemedicinal.com\/?page_id=616","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Learn more about our efforts on the frontlines of the Indigenous cannabis industry in the Sault Ste. Marie.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Allan Ward at the site of the new Temple Medicinal Healing Centre. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Allan Ward is one of the path-makers of the Indigenous cannabis industry in the Sault Ste. Marie  area. The founder of Temple Medicinal, the first Indigenous dispensary in the area, Ward is at the helm of a growing movement of Indigenous entrepreneurs who are using the cannabis plant to improve not only their own lives, but that of their people too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cree from Manitoba, Ward grew up in Scarborough in the Gabriel Dumont Aboriginal housing complex which his grandmother worked to establish. However, life in Scarborough was no easy ride, and Ward learned early that he had to hustle to survive and thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1996 Ward moved to Sault Ste. Marie and started a family and went to school. However, he found he couldn\u2019t support his four children given the job market in Sault Ste. Marie, and so he moved his family and went to work in Hamilton\u2019s steel industry in the fall of 2000. Ward worked continental 12 hr shifts and a lot of overtime to provide for his family, but as a result of working so much, missed out on a lot.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 21, 2004, Ward\u2019s life was changed forever when his right leg was crushed in an industrial accident at Nova Steel Processing. The accident ended his career in steel, and cost him his right leg below the knee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prescribed opiates by his doctor to treat the pain of amputation, Ward became addicted to them and struggled with depression and addiction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, it was cannabis that provided a way out \u2013 it combatted the pain, improved the quality of his life, and provided him with an income to support himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Temple Medicinal Dispensary<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In 2006 Ward and his family moved back to the Sault Ste. Marie area. In 2016, as Canada moved towards cannabis legalization, Ward decided to pursue his love of cannabis and opened up Temple Medicinal at 677 MacDonald Ave suite #229, in Sault Ste. Marie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The business thrived and became a medicinal, cultural and political hub for all things cannabis in the Sault Ste. Marie area. As a lifelong cannabis aficionado, who had turned his own life around with the help of the plant, Ward was well positioned to help others.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there was no place for Ward and other grassroots cannabis entrepreneurs under Canada\u2019s new cannabis laws. Rather than ending the prohibition of the plant, the Cannabis Act<\/em> reinforced it, as only corporations with millions of dollars could become Licensed Producers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After raids on the medicinal cannabis community became more common elsewhere in Ontario, Ward relocated Temple Medicinal  to Garden River territory, where he lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward\u2019s success, and his generosity in sharing his expertise and knowledge of the industry, encouraged several other Indigenous people in the Garden River area to open their own dispensaries [See Map on page 27 for a full listing of stores].<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Ward, one of the best things about his business is that it\u2019s family run. His two older children, his son Allan Jr. and his daughter Aiyana, help to operate the business and work closely with him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStarting this business has given me the opportunity to work beside my kids and  build a relationship with them I never got to experience working for someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Allan Ward walking towards the site of the Temple Medicinal Healing Centre. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Temple Medicinal Healing Centre<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ward has not limited himself to any one sector of the cannabis industry. Ward grows cannabis to meet his own personal medicinal needs, and now sells garden supplies and glassware at Temple\u2019s town location to help others do the same. Meanwhile, Temple\u2019s dispensary in Garden River has \u2013 hands down \u2013 the largest and best selection of cannabis products and accessories in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But perhaps Ward\u2019s most significant initiative in recent years, is his purchasing of 40 acre parcel of land in the Goulais river region which he is planning to turn into a healing and addiction recovery centre for Indigenous people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Healing Centre is located at the site of a former Bible camp, and features a conference centre and meeting place, as well as an 18-room chalet which Ward wants to use to host those in recovery and their families. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His goal is to provide cannabis based therapies based in Indigenous healing modalities, to support those seeking to overcome their addictions. The plan is for the healing centre to grow food, offer cultural training and be a safe space for the positive transformations necessary to overcome the trauma at the root of addiction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward is currently renovating the buildings and is looking for investors and partners interested in helping to run the operation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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