Pubdate: Wed, 25 May 2016
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2016 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Greg McArthur
Page: A4

TORONTO POT SHOPS 'RECKLESS,' BLAIR SAYS

Liberal MP and city's former police chief criticizes dispensaries that
'don't care about the law' at conference

The marijuana dispensaries spreading rapidly across Canada's largest
cities are illegal, reckless and often exist to make a "fast buck,"
Bill Blair, the federal government's point person on the legalization
of marijuana, said Tuesday.

In his strongest signal yet about whom the government will allow to
compete in a legal marijuana market, Mr. Blair praised the "exhaustive
and exacting" procedures of the 28 companies currently licensed by
Ottawa to grow and sell medical marijuana, while attacking the
storefront operations that have proliferated in Vancouver and Toronto
in recent months.

While the federal government wrestles with how to legalize marijuana
by its stated target of next year, numerous entrepreneurs have tried
to claim a foothold in the emerging industry by opening dispensaries
that purportedly sell the drug for medical purposes. None of these
storefront businesses is licensed under the federal government's
current regime, a system that only allows patients to purchase
directly from licensed producers through mail order.

"Participating in this business activity means that you must be
willing to adhere to a strict set of regulations," Mr. Blair told a
conference of investors, Bay Street lawyers and several executives
from the licensed firms. "The current licensed producers are competing
with people who don't care about the law, who don't care about
regulations, don't care about kids, they don't care about communities,
don't care about health of Canadians. They're pretty reckless about
it. And so they're selling anything to make a fast buck before we get
the regulations put in place."

The spread of the dispensaries has been so swift that municipal
licensing departments in Vancouver and Toronto have been forced to
crack down on businesses that would normally be the domain of the
police. Last week, Toronto inspectors sent letters to the landlords of
some of the city's estimated 100 dispensaries, threatening fines of up
to $ 50,000 for violating city bylaws. Faced with its own explosion of
dispensaries, the city of Vancouver instituted a licensing regime,
threatening non-compliant stores with fines of hundreds of dollars a
day.

Toronto's dispensary owners have responded by forming their own
coalition, the Cannabis Friendly Business Association. A spokeswoman
for the group, Abi Roach, said Mr. Blair's comments do not reflect the
desires of most consumers of marijuana.

"The government is listening to people in suits instead of people on
the ground. Stop and listen to what the consumers want. The consumer
is educated now and understands good-quality curing and good-quality
bud," said Ms. Roach, also an owner of the Hot Box Cafe in Toronto's
Kensington Market.

"It's easier for a politician to talk about children than speak the
truth," she said.

During his talk, Mr. Blair, the former chief of Toronto police, delved
into his own experiences with illegal marijuana grow operations and
the damage wrought by the criminal organizations that are largely
responsible for running them.

Despite his own firmly held belief that "marijuana is not a benign
substance," he said the current model of prohibition is not working,
repeatedly citing studies that show Canadians use more marijuana than
any other country in the developed world.

"We need to do a better job. I believe we can do a better job through
strict regulation and public education."

Although many favour legalization because of the potential government
revenues, Mr. Blair said that is not what is driving this change.

In one of his conversations with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about
the revenue implications, he said the Prime Minister said, "roll that
money back into prevention, research, treatment, education."

- - With a report from Craig Offman
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt