An Edmonton man awaiting drug charges says a police raid of his south Edmonton store was “a waste of time.”
David Tiefenbach owns The Medi Joint, a cannabis dispensary located on 109 Street, just south of Whyte Avenue.
The store sold cannabis products only to patients with prescriptions from a doctor. The practice won’t be legal until Canada legalizes marijuana, next summer. However, in British Columbia, police don’t crack down on people offering the service.
Edmonton police did step in.
On Dec. 13, officers went to The Medi Joint, shut it down and seized about $100,000 of product, according to Tiefenbach, who said he was surprised at the crackdown.
“I was pushing a bit of an envelope and I jumped the gun a little bit but we did have support.”
Police also raided a separate building in a south Edmonton industrial park. Investigators found a grow operation involving 100 plants and a distribution system. Two people were implicated in that raid.
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With Medi Joint, five people were questioned by police and officers say everyone from the two raids will likely face charges that could include drug trafficking, possession of a controlled substance and possession of the proceeds of crime.
Edmonton police say marijuana may become legal this summer but it isn’t legal yet.
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“There wasn’t anything legitimate about these two places. They were operating outside of the law,” Insp. Shane Perka said.
Perka says Edmonton police will continue to enforce marijuana laws until they are changed. He adds he has spoken with federal Crown prosecutors who tell police they are willing to prosecute the offences.
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To those who ask why bother, Perka says it’s about public safety. When marijuana becomes legal, regulations will govern how it’s sold for both recreational and medicinal use. Those regulations are not in place yet.
“Consumers are putting themselves at risk. They don’t know exactly what’s in it, if it has been tested, the amount of THC,” said Perka, who told customers with prescriptions it’s best to “access it through the proper, regulated, quality controlled providers which do not include any store fronts.”
Tiefenbach says about 1,200 patients purchased cannabis products from The Medi Joint. His employees receive the same training dispensary workers receive in American states with legal marijuana. He takes quality control very seriously. All products are “lab tested.”
He adds he has always been trying to operate in the open and above board. Tiefenbach says he talked to police officers and city officials before opening. He has been trying to deal with every concern brought to him.
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He wanted his store to act as the model for marijuana dispensaries once cannabis is legalized and the raid bothers him.
“Of course it was a waste of time. How could you tell me one thing and do another thing? All they had to do was give me a phone call and say, ‘Hey, close your doors for now until we get all this sorted out,,” Tiefenbach said.
“I thought we were all good and in the clear and I really thought the city was going to work with me and not against me.”
Tiefenbach hasn’t been charged yet. He expects he will be soon.
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As he contemplates his criminal defence, he’s also planning how to re-open The Medi Joint and how to expand.
He wants to build three more stores in Edmonton. None will likely open before marijuana officially becomes legal next summer.
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