Pubdate: Tue, 15 Aug 2017
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Paula McCooey
Page: A6

ILLEGAL POT SHOP ROBBED FOR THIRD TIME THIS SUMMER

An illegal west-end pot shop has not let a recent string of robberies
run it out of business.

The CannaGreen shop at 102 McEwen Ave., off Richmond Road, was robbed
for the third time in two months this past weekend. Late Monday
morning, the front glass door of the business remained shattered,
evidence of a Saturday night smash and grab.

The vandalized door was propped open, allowing for the scent of pot to
emanate from the store that appeared to have patrons coming and going.
Two employees - one behind a glass display case and the other behind a
wall with a service window where customers receive product from the
back room - would not comment on the incident.

"We can't really say anything, because we don't know much," said one
employee.

Ottawa police Staff Sgt. Mike Haarbosch of the robbery unit said a
passerby reported the latest incident to police Sunday. Haarbosch
confirmed the suspects took "various product."

"There may be some (marijuana product) that was locked up, but there
were display cases that certainly were cleaned out; those were emptied
. ... I can't really give you an idea of what exactly was taken, which
is part of the ongoing issue. Sometimes it's a struggle to get
information out of these places."

On Saturday, June 17, around 9 p.m., an employee was working when
several young men rushed into the store.

The staffer, who didn't want to be identified, said he immediately
assumed they were robbers and ran out the back door. The same employee
told police the store was also robbed a day earlier, when he was not
on duty.

CannaGreen is one of a string of affiliated shops that have popped up
in Ottawa run by a B.C.-based organization. Two of the shops, Herbal
Leaf on Bank Street and Trees on Montreal Road, recently closed.

Pot shops are illegal, but have proliferated in advance of the federal
government's promised legalization of marijuana. People with
documentation from their health-care providers can legally buy, and
receive through the mail, medicinal cannabis from 52 producers
licensed by Health Canada.
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