Pubdate: Wed, 10 Aug 2016
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: David Rider
Page: GT2

POLICE RAID 3 MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Danforth shop already plans to reopen in the future

As governments lay groundwork for legal recreational pot next spring,
Toronto police keep raiding medicinal marijuana dispensaries and want
the public to help them continue.

The pot sellers remain defiant, with one shuttered shop urging buyers
to visit a sister store until it can reopen.

Officers raided three dispensaries Monday, seizing 21.5 pounds of pot
products, $15,841.05 in cash and laying Criminal Code drug charges
against six men.

It was the second raid of S.W.E.D. dispensary at 1898 Danforth Ave.,
which was among 43 shops busted in late May when 90 owners, managers
and clerks were hit with trafficking charges.

Another S.W.E.D. outlet, at 988 Pape Ave., was also raided Monday
along with Section 56 dispensary at 912 Danforth Ave.

They were the latest in sporadic busts since the mass arrests in
spring.

A sign on the S.W.E.D. window on Pape Ave. told customers it had no
pot to sell because police seized it.

"We plan to reopen in the near future, but our 333 Danforth Ave.
location is still open for business today. Please visit them for all
your medical needs," it stated. Staff at that location were indeed
busy selling marijuana.

The dispensaries, some demanding a prescription and others not,
started spreading across Toronto last year.

They flourished amid legal haze on Canada's medical marijuana laws. A
federal court judge in B.C. struck down a ban on registered pot-using
patients growing their own plants. The judge ordered Ottawa to bring
the law, allowing legal pot use for a variety of ailments, in line
with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Mayor John Tory, some councillors and residents began complaining when
the dispensary proliferation showed no signs of slowing, with shops
around busy intersections and sometimes near schools.

City staff say pot sales are legal only if Health Canada-approved
patients get it, via mail or courier, from a federally approved
distributor located in an area zoned industrial.

The city worked with police on the May raids and charged the shops
with city bylaw charges. On recreational marijuana, Ontario's Kathleen
Wynne joined other premiers last month urging swift action from the
federal government on pot rules.

A federal panel is set to deliver a report this November that will be
the blueprint for legalization legislation next spring.

Michael McLellan of the Toronto Dispensaries Coalition condemned
Monday's "heavy handed enforcement" by Toronto police.

"Using valuable police resources to enforce archaic marijuana laws
that are set to be taken off the books a year from now is not just a
clear misuse of public funds, but a poor allocation of police human
resources," he said in a statement.

"Enforcement measures only further stigmatize the thousands of medical
marijuana patients across Toronto who rely on dispensaries for their
needed medication."

Steve Lorenz, 44, arrived at the S.W.E.D. on Pape Ave. and shook his
head at the notice of a police raid.

"How many people got stabbed and shot in this city last night, but
they're using undercover officers for this?" said Lorenz, who said he
uses pot to help his post-traumatic stress disorder.

"By the time next year rolls around, it's going to be legal and the
cases will be thrown out of court."

S.W.E.D. staff were diligent about checking for prescriptions and want
Toronto to follow Vancouver's lead and licence storefront dispensaries
with conditions to soothe concerns, he said.

But a woman walking by, who declined to give her name, took a look at
the note and pronounced: "Good, we don't need that (shop) here."

Toronto police made no apologies and signalled the raids won't stop
anytime soon.

"We continue to raid marijuana dispensaries because the sale of
marijuana outside of licensed government channels continues to be
against the law," said police spokeswoman Meaghan Gray.

The news release about Monday's busts states: "Police are requesting
anyone who has any information regarding illegal dispensaries or
criminal activity to contact them."
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