Many Americans naively think that in Canada, cannabis reform comes easily, and no one has to face persecution. On the contrary, despite the fact that a lot of positive reform has been happening over the past few years, police in Toronto recently went on a veritable raiding spree, hitting over 40 dispensaries in the area.
Law enforcement agencies in Toronto started these raids at the end of May, looking into dispensaries they suspected were selling medical cannabis to recreational users. This lead to several arrests of shop owners and employees, as well as some shops being shut down entirely.
These raids targeted “locations that are identified as trafficking in marijuana outside the marijuana for medical purposes regulations,” according to Constable Craig Brister. The raids were code named “Project Claudia,” and letters apparently were sent out to landlords of the offending dispensaries, letting them know that their tenants had zoning violations.
Another violation these dispensaries could have been guilty of is selling cannabis that is not grown at a Canada-approved cultivation facility. Canadian dispensaries are only allowed to grow government-grown and approved cannabis, so any companies going through private growers would have been guilty of breaking the law.
Recently, the mayor of Toronto has sworn to crack down on some of the bogus dispensaries that have been popping up throughout the city, selling illegal cannabis or without licences, or providing recreational sales. However, many fear that Toronto has put too many laws in place, and are just asking for a lifetime of legal trouble trying to enforce all of these strict guidelines.
“To the extent that the zoning law is a prohibition based on the fact that it’s a dispensary, I say that that’s unconstitutional,” explained Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “If you are in a retail zone, and you are operating a retail business, and the only problem is that it’s ‘illegal,’ pursuant to federal law, I say that federal law is unconstitutional and the Charter trumps. And that’s the end of the story.”
It would be beneficial to law enforcement and dispensary owners alike to have fewer regulations and more freedom for the emerging Canadian cannabis industry.
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