Pubdate: Mon, 12 Feb 2018
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2018 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Jacquie Miller
Page: A1

POT SHOP WANTS EVICTION OVERTURNED

The fight by a popular Bank Street marijuana dispensary to stay in
business has taken an intriguing twist.

Cannabis Culture closed in December after the frustrated landlord
evicted his tenants, who were selling marijuana obtained from the
black market.

Now the operators of Cannabis Culture have filed a court application
demanding their lease be honoured so they can get back to operating
their illegal business. The lawsuit might be an indication that some
dispensaries are digging in for a fight with authorities as the
country gets closer to the legalization of recreational marijuana,
expected this summer. The province has vowed to shut down the
dispensaries as it prepares to open legal pot shops run by a
subsidiary of the LCBO.

It's also a sign of the continuing confusion around dispensaries as
the pot wars heat up across the country.

The legal application filed by Cannabis Culture in the Ontario
Superior Court of Justice on Feb. 2 says the landlord appears to
believe the dispensary was operating illegally. "Which it is not."

That statement will be news to the Ottawa police, Ontario's attorney
general and the federal ministers of justice, health and public
safety, who have said the dispensaries are illegal operations selling
weed that is not regulated and might be unsafe.

As far as Ottawa police are concerned, the only difference between
Cannabis Culture and a drug dealer on a street corner is that one
operates out of a store.

Police have raided Cannabis Culture twice, charging the clerks working
inside with drug trafficking. The store restocked its shelves and
reopened. It only finally closed after a bailiff arrived with police,
tacked an eviction notice from the landlord on the door and changed
the locks.

It's not clear what arguments Cannabis Culture will mount in defence
of its assertion that the business is, in fact, legal. The documents
filed in court don't provide an explanation and the lawyer who filed
them did not immediately return a phone call.

However, some clues emerge from other legal battles looming as lawyers
prepare constitutional arguments to defend "budtenders" (clerks) and
owners charged during dispensary raids by police in Ottawa, Toronto
and other Ontario cities.

Courts have ruled that under the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, medical marijuana patients have the right to "reasonable
access" to their medicine. Dispensaries provide that access because
the legal system for obtaining medical marijuana is inadequate, says
Jack Lloyd, a Toronto lawyer who represents numerous dispensary workers.

Whether that argument is accepted in court remains to be
seen.

In the meantime, landlord Gerry Shapiro says he's caught in the middle
of all the politics and legal wrangling.

Cannabis Culture signed a lease to rent space in his company's Bank
Street building starting Jan. 1, 2017. The lease says the tenant will
operate a marijuana dispensary, but it also has a clause forbidding
illegal activities.

Shapiro said they didn't realize there was a problem until Ottawa
police informed his company that dispensaries are illegal.

Cannabis Culture was asked to leave, but the tenant refused and
threatened a court battle, said Shapiro. Then the province announced a
tough new law that allows for fines of as much as $1 million or jail
time for landlords who rent to dispensaries. That law will go into
effect when marijuana becomes legal across the country.

Shapiro said he felt he had little choice but to evict Cannabis
Culture. The windows at the store are now papered over, the sign
removed from the front of the building.

Cannabis Culture, in its court application, said the "unilateral
termination of the lease" has "severely prejudiced" the company
because it cannot conduct business.

The landlord did not specify adequate reasons for terminating the
lease, according to the application. The rent was paid on time.

Cannabis Culture spent more than $50,000 to improve the property with
the expectation it would remain in the store for a long time, said the
documents.

The lease was for five years with an option to renew for another five
years.

The dispensary had a front lobby with chairs where customers waited to
be buzzed into a locked room that contained the marijuana.

There was a video security system.

The waiting room was often jammed with customers. One staffer
estimated the store served between 1,000 and 1,200 people a day.

This newspaper has interviewed customers at the store numerous times.
Some said they use marijuana for medical reasons. Others just wanted
to get high.

Anyone over 19 was eligible to make a purchase.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt