Cannabis dispensaries hope for path to legitimacy
The proprietor of Greenworks Medicinal Dispensary in Gloucester says he’ll be closing shop on Oct. 1 so he can make a bid to run a legal marijuana store.
The Ontario government’s decision to switch from governmentrun to privately owned cannabis shops was welcome news to the man, who requested that his name not be used because he doesn’t want to hurt his chances.
“It’s great news,” he said. “I’ll be applying for a proper licence, and hopefully it will all turn out.”
Whether Ontario will allow people who have worked in the illicit cannabis industry to operate private shops is one of the big unanswered questions in the Progressive Conservative government’s new pot plans.
The other question is how many of the illegal dispensaries will continue to operate, facing down the threat of huge fines and increased criminal penalties when recreational pot becomes legal on Oct. 17.
There are about 20 illegal dispensaries in Ottawa and more than 100 across the province. Police forces have conducted sporadic raids on them, but the shops often reopen or new ones pop up.
Ontario Finance Minister Vic Fedeli echoed the previous Liberal government’s warning that dispensaries should shut down.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that anyone who has worked in the cannabis black market will be barred from applying for retail licences.
“All dispensaries presently operating in Ontario are doing so illegally, and they should demonstrate a willingness to comply with the law and shut down now,” said Jessica Trepanier, a spokeswoman for the Ontario attorney general’s office. “Our upcoming consultations will help us determine what businesses will be permitted to operate in the legal retail market.”
The consultations begin next week at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference, she said. The province will also consult law enforcement officials, Indigenous communities, public health authorities, businesses and consumer groups and learn from the experience of western provinces that are adopting privately-run cannabis stores.
Ontario’s private cannabis shops are expected to be open by April 1, 2019. Their rules of operation have not been decided. However, it’s safe to assume that anyone operating an illegal dispensary would not be able to obtain a licence to run a legal one.
The proprietor of Greenworks said he hopes there will be room for small operators such as him. Several large cannabis companies have said they hope to set up multiple shops in Ontario.
Greenworks sells cannabis to several hundred medical-marijuana users from a small storefront in an industrial park. The owner said he’s never made any money from the dispensary, and works a full-time second job. He hopes to pay off the loan he took out to start up the business before he closes it.
Greenworks has never been raided by police, and the man has no criminal record. He’s hopeful he’ll be eligible to apply for a licence to run a legal store. “I’m cautiously optimistic.”
The debate over the role of people from the illicit market in Canada’s new world of legal pot is not limited to Ontario. Activists argue that it’s vital to move people out of the huge underground market if legalization is to succeed. Some of those growing pot or running dispensaries are mom-and-pop operations, artisans or medical marijuana advocates who aren’t involved in other criminal activities.
But unsavoury people are also involved, and one of the federal government’s key objectives is to get rid of organized criminals who profit from the marijuana trade.
All those issues will probably be aired during Ontario’s consultations.
Other provinces that are adopting private cannabis store models have taken different approaches. Alberta has banned anyone who was involved in the illicit market from getting a licence. In B.C., the province says such people won’t necessarily be excluded.
In Ottawa, it’s difficult to say what plans are afoot at most dispensaries, since their owners and managers aren’t eager to be identified.
Another shop that caters to medical-marijuana patients, The OMD, shut down its store in an industrial park on Antares Drive in June but continues selling online. The OMD’s landlord did not want to face million-dollar fines when pot becomes legal and stricter enforcement laws take effect, said the receptionist.
The majority of Ottawa’s dispensaries sell pot to anyone 19 and over.
Typically, clerks at the stores are friendly but say they don’t know or can’t reveal their bosses’ names.
“They are very quiet about everything that goes on here,” said the clerk behind the takeout window of Green Oasis, on the ground floor of a rundown house on Preston Street. She said she only knew the manager’s first name, did not know how she could be contacted, and has never seen the owner.
It was a similar story at five dispensaries the Citizen visited on
Wednesday. “We’re not likely to discuss stuff like that,” said one of the three men behind the counter at CannaLife on Preston Street when asked who the owner and manager were.
Staffer Benoit-Claude BriandTurpin at CannaBliss, a small but busy shop on Preston, said he welcomes the switch to allow privately owned shops. “It means (the government) is listening to the people and what we have been saying.” He said he hopes small, communityrun stores will be allowed.
As for whether CannaBliss will close and its operators try for a licence under the new regime, Briand-Turpin said that hasn’t been decided.
He declined to identify the manager or owner, but said everyone working at the store was a volunteer. If that’s the case, who gets the money? “This is not something I would talk about.”