Pubdate: Thu, 30 Mar 2017
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.torontosun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://torontosun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: Joe Warmington
Page: 18

POT SHOPS FIGHTING A TIGHT CLUB

Raids continue - despite fed plan to make weed legal

They thought it was an armed heist.

"It felt like a robbery," said Mark Harrison, the manager of Village
Cannabis Dispensary. "They took all our product and cash."

"It was totally a robbery," chimed in his "budtender" - Big Mike - as
he took a puff from his bong.

It was not, however. It was a drug bust at 461 Church St. on Tuesday
night. "The staff asked to see badges to make sure they were police,"
said Harrison. Sure enough, they were.

Buds 4 Life, 339 Broadview Ave., was also raided. Cassandra Hynes
Higgins, 26, Robertha Johnson, 25, Victoria Robbins, 23, and Melanie
Marshall-Lazou, 25, were charged with possession of marijuana,
trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime. A fifth person,
Brennan Steinberg, 30, had two counts of carrying a concealed weapon
added to drug charges.

Officers who raided Buds 4 Life seized 1,146 grams of marijuana, 51.2
grams of shatter (a cannabis extract), 21.3 grams of hashish and
$15,190. On Church St., just like on March 9, Toronto Police were
courteous as they confiscated pot and cash. No one was arrested.

But the message is clear: It's zero tolerance.

Despite the fact that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals plan to
make weed legal as of July 1, 2018, it's obvious this is a pot
distribution war.

"They are busting us because they are creating a total monopoly on
distribution," said Harrison. It will be hard to stop them. The
investors in the pot game include former politicians and corporate big
boys. The MP who's the architect of pot legalization in Canada is
former Toronto Police chief Bill Blair. For years, Blair was current
chief Mark Saunders' boss.

Blair counted on Saunders' support at a political fundraiser when he
was running for parliament. Blair's one-time deputy chief and former
patrol partner, Kim Derry, went on from policing to run THC Meds
Ontario Inc. with former Ontario deputy premier George Smitherman.

It's a tight club. The storefront potheads, who are the ones
technically breaking a law that is about to change, are not part of
it.

And they are not getting in.

Still, these raided stores were open for business once again Wednesday
and - in blatant acts of defiance - people were not only buying and
selling pot, but openly smoking it.

"It's a game of cat and mouse," said Harrison.

In this case, the government is the cat.

For example, in a raid earlier this month, then-owners - and pot
activists - of the Church St. shop, Marc and Jodie Emery, were
charged. But they passed ownership of the Church St. operation to
three employees who now, if charged, could have strict bail
restrictions banning them from the location.

If they pass it along to a new owner, there's nothing stopping police
from conducting another raid.

"We are not going to be able to sustain ourselves if the (busts
escalate)," admits Harrison.

To stop dispensaries from re-opening, "I guess they could put us all
in jail." But Harrison also knows government can also shut off their
water, hydro and also lean on landlords, too.

So what once were storefront pot shops trying to establish a foothold
in the upcoming marijuana boom is now what Harrison describes as
"civil disobedience." It's David versus Goliath. "Every time they do a
bust, the marijuana-growing companies see their stock go up," said
employee Sean Stevenson.

The police, he said, are in essence being used as the marijuana
industry's muscle.

To prevent the inevitable black market to combat government-controlled
marijuana pricing, it would be wiser to allow storefronts and pot
enthusiasts in on a piece of the action - like we see with wineries
and craft breweries. But that's not happening.

It's unclear how Ontario will proceed with marijuana sales and
distribution. But big pharmacies for medical marijuana and LCBO-style
outlets for recreational weed seem to be the plan.
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MAP posted-by: Matt