Pot dispensaries urge city to drop charges

Even after last week’s high-profile raids, pot being sold in at least one dispensary. Meanwhile, a local Liberal MP scoffs at a councillor’s request for guidance.

Thestar.com
May 30, 2016
By David Rider and Betsy Powell

Mitchell Cutler had just finished selling a THC-infused ointment to an arthritic woman - her “medicine” - when Toronto police showed up and charged him with possession for the purposes of trafficking.

“If these charges do stick I guess my future is pretty much over,” said the marijuana dispensary worker, who says he has never before been in trouble with police.

Cutler was at city hall Monday as part of a coalition of pot dispensaries urging the city to drop the charges laid by Toronto police during raids last Thursday.

Police and city municipal licensing officials targeted 43 locations last week, where 90 people were arrested. In all, 186 possession for the purpose of trafficking charges and 71 proceeds of crime charges were laid. Bylaw officers also laid 79 charges of zoning violations.

Even so, there was still pot being sold Monday in at least one storefront operation in Toronto.

“It’s been busy all weekend,” said Erin Goodwin, one of the managers of Cannabis Culture on Queen St. W. near Bathurst St. “A lot of people lost their access so we’re happy to provide.”

Part of a Vancouver-based chain that will soon open another shop on Queen St. E. near Broadview Ave., Cannabis Culture says it asks buyers only for two pieces of identification to prove they are aged 19 or older.

The steady stream of customers that flowed Monday through the west-end location left with pot plants or oils in silver bags.

“Mayor John Tory has committed political suicide with young people,” said customer John Neely carrying a handmade sign stating: “Fight crime not cannabis.”

Speaking to reporters for the first time about the pot raids, the mayor defended police laying trafficking charges. Earlier this month, Tory sent a letter asking licensing staff to step up enforcement because so many “bogus” pot dispensaries had popped up across the city.

“Lots of laws might be changed in the coming months, but until such time as the law is changed the police have an obligation, not just a choice, but they have an obligation to enforce the law,” he said.

As for dispensaries that continue to operate, Tory said: “All I can do is kind of throw my arms up a little bit and hope people would be responsible in the meantime.”

Pot was on the agenda Monday at city hall, where the Toronto Board of Health unanimously endorsed a report by the Medical Officer of Health on the legalization and regulation of recreational cannabis. In it, Dr. David McKeown recommended the board urge the federal government to use a public-health approach when it moves to regulate and legalize pot in 2017.

The board also supported Councillor Joe Cressy’s motion urging the federal government to provide “immediate guidance on the sale and possession of recreational marijuana” pending forthcoming legalization.

“Cities across the country are struggling,” Cressy said.

Responding to the board of health, former city councillor now Liberal MP Adam Vaughan noted on Twitter that “illegal operations” are a local responsibility.

“Immediate guidance? The law’s the law,” he wrote. “Cities have the regulatory tools they need, police have the same laws they’ve always had. Not doing anything was (Toronto)’s choice.”