A group that claims to speak for Toronto’s dispensaries took to city hall Monday calling for charges from last week’s pot shop raids to be dropped and the stores regulated.
Speaking ahead of a report by Toronto Public Health on marijuana sales, the Toronto Dispensaries Coalition decried the 250-plus criminal charges filed in the blitz, saying dispensaries are safer than the black market.
And the group shot back at police Chief Mark Saunders’ justification in part for the raids over “health concerns” about the amount of pot in marijuana products such as cookies and other edibles.
“These are operating in the open, not in the back alleys. They are paying their taxes they are testing their product,” spokesman Adolfo Gonzalez told reporters.
“The city needs to realize that they have made a major mistake, that they’re ruining the lives of people that have families, that have futures,” he added.
READ MORE: Protesters hijack police press conference on Toronto marijuana dispensary raids
Gonzalez said most dispensaries in the city operate by the rules of practice established by the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries, which is akin to a governing body.
“We have a track record of knowing what’s in our medication and helping people effectively.”
Gonzalez said the dispensaries, 43 of which were hit in the coordinated raids, will be operating under a strengthened code of conduct to ensure quality.
The group wants the charges dropped but intends to represent all dispensary workers swept up in the crackdown. It also wants “reasonable, appropriate” city regulations for medicinal-pot stores, which operate outside the federal medical-marijuana system.
Ninety people face drug trafficking counts following the dramatic police response to the estimated 100-plus dispensaries that rapidly popped up around Toronto.
“If these charges do stick, I guess my future is pretty much over,” said dispensary employee Mitchell Cutler.
READ MORE: 90 arrests, 257 charges laid in Toronto marijuana dispensary raids
Noelle Watson, who takes the drug for relief from a spinal cyst, said the shutdowns mean she has trouble finding the only medication that really treats her condition.
“And I think it’s wrong that I can’t access that,” she said. “But I can get as many (prescription) narcotics as I want. It’s wrong, it’s twisted.”
In its report on recreational sales sent to the health board, Public Health calls on Ottawa to use an “evidence-based” approach as it moves towards legalizing marijuana. The department also recommends the federal government commit research funding to the effects of non-medicinal cannabis and to monitoring the drug before regulations are drawn up.
Councillors endorsed the report, which included an amendment calling on Ottawa for “immediate interim guidance” on how cities should handle recreational cannabis sales.
City licensing staff have been tasked with drafting a framework for regulating marijuana dispensaries, and are to report their findings at a committee next month.
With a file from The Canadian Press
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