Pubdate: Fri, 30 Oct 2015
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Copyright: 2015 The Leader-Post Ltd.
Contact: http://www.leaderpost.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html
Website: http://www.leaderpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361
Author: Charles Hamilton
Page: A4

FOUR CHARGED IN POT DISPENSARY RAID

SASKATOON - Police say the people operating Saskatoon's only medical 
pot dispensary are criminals.

"They are drug traffickers," said Saskatoon police Insp. Dave Haye.

Police shut down the Saskatoon Compassion Club on Thursday, arresting 
four people associated with the club.

The dispensary had been providing marijuana to people with medical 
licences since August. Although police maintain the club was acting 
illegally and selling the drug outside of Health Canada's regulations 
on medical marijuana, clients who frequented to storefront dispensary 
were devastated by the news.

"This was really helping a lot of people. I'm going to suffer. I know 
there's a lot of other people that are going to suffer," said club 
member Sean Dew outside the building.

Police said the investigation began in September, weeks after the 
storefront was opened.

Prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau campaigned on a promise to 
legalize marijuana for recreational use. That promise had no bearing 
on the investigation or the decision to crack down on the dispensary 
this week, Haye said.

"It has nothing to do with any politics ... we are simply enforcing 
the laws as they are today," he said.

Two Saskatoon men, age 24 and 36, along with two Saskatoon women, age 
23 and 39, were arrested as part of an investigation police dubbed 
Project Fextern. Search warrants were executed around 10:30 a.m. at a 
home in the 400 block of 109th Street West and at the dispensary in 
the 200 block of Second Avenue North.

Police would not confirm the identity of any of the people arrested 
or the quantity of marijuana products seized.

Haye said police seized computers and other electronic equipment from 
the store.

Mark Hauk, head of the Saskatchewan Compassion Club, may have seen 
the raids coming.

Hauk recently said he was one of 13 pot-club owners across Canada who 
had received a notice from Health Canada warning of possible raids by police.

The letters stated that the owners could face legal action if they 
don't stop selling or advertising marijuana. The letter Hauk received 
threatened two years in prison and fines of up to $5 million.

When asked if he was worried about police shutting down his 
operation, Hauk previously said it has been a concern ever since he 
began selling dried cannabis and other marijuana products.

"I don't take being arrested or going to jail lightly," he said in a 
recent interview. "The reality is we were well aware before the 
letter was issued that we were operating outside the federal regulations."

Police confirmed they are not targeting clients of the club or people 
who allegedly purchased marijuana illegally. Still, compassion club 
members like Aaron Pittner showed up outside the store to show 
support for the club and other medical marijuana patients.

"It's really sad. There were a lot of people who use this service 
here," Pittner said.

He's been a client of the club since it opened and will now have to 
find his medical marijuana elsewhere, he said. Like Dew, he said he 
doesn't feel safe buying marijuana on the black market, but he might 
have to, now that the club is closed.

"I think it's wrong," he said.

Of those charged, the 36-year-old man is charged with four counts of 
trafficking in a controlled substance (marijuana and cannabis resin), 
two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking a controlled 
substance, and possession of the proceeds of crime.

The two women are each facing four counts of trafficking in a 
controlled substance (marijuana and cannabis resin) and two counts of 
possession for the purpose of trafficking a controlled substance.

The 24-year-old man is charged with two counts of trafficking in a 
controlled substance (marijuana and cannabis resin) and two counts of 
possession for the purpose of trafficking a controlled substance.

All four are scheduled to appear today in Saskatoon provincial court.

The investigation was conducted by the Saskatoon Integrated Drug 
Enforcement Street Team (SIDEST) and Integrated Organized Crime North 
(IOCN). Both units include members of the Saskatoon Police Service 
and the RCMP 'F' Division.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom