Pubdate: Wed, 11 Jan 2017 Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2017 Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: http://www.ottawasun.com/letter-to-editor Website: http://www.ottawasun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329 Author: Jacquie Miller Page: 8 'CAT-AND-MOUSE GAME' WITH LOCAL POT SHOPS When Arash Zadeh heard a marijuana dispensary on Hunt Club Road had temporarily closed after an armed robbery, he saw an opportunity. He asked his real estate agent to find out whether the landlord was interested in renting the space to him and his business partner Hadi Shureih. "I called (the agent) and said, 'I'm sure the community is not very impressed with this (shop), so can we get in?" The answer was yes, and soon the green walls of the Capital City Cannabis Clinic will be painted and the space transformed into a shop selling cell phone plans and equipment. The Koodo store should be open in March, when renovations are complete, say the partners. Capital City is one of several dispensaries that have closed on their own rather than because of police raids. The Capital Essence shop in Blackburn Hamlet, which was opposed by some neighbours, has also closed after landlord Peang Taing asked its operators to leave, letting them free from a three-year lease. He said he had no idea his tenant would be selling marijuana. But in what Ottawa Coun. Mathieu Fleury calls the "cat-and-mouse changes almost daily. Ottawa police conducted major raids in early November on seven shops, then raided two more in the last two weeks. Staff have been charged with various counts of drug trafficking and possessing the proceeds of crime. Police have warned that the dispensaries are illegal, and investigations continue. But half a dozen of the raided shops have simply reopened. "I'm not worried about myself being charged," said the staffer behind the counter Tuesday at 613 Medicinals on Montreal Road, which is back in business after being raided on Dec. 30. "I'm worried about the 70-year-old woman who comes in here looking for relief from her cancer pain," he said, indicating the glass case full of cannabis-laced gummy bears and jelly bombs. All the dispensaries say they sell to medical marijuana patients. Policies about who can purchase cannabis products vary. Some dispensaries limit sales to people who say they have a medical need, or have a doctor's prescription, while others basically sell to anyone over 19. Most obtain their supplies from black-market growers and bakers in B.C. Medical marijuana can only be legally purchased from growers licensed by Health Canada, who send products by mail. The Weeds dispensary on Montreal Road, which closed in September after Canada Post seized a shipment of cannabis products sent to the store from B.C., reopened on Monday. Kristina Simpson, who oversees both the Weeds shops in Ottawa, said it took a while to restock the store, settle a dispute with the former manager, renovate and find staff. "With the raids, we don't have 100 people every day, dropping off resumes." - --- MAP posted-by: