MORE ON THE LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA
On the eve of national marijuana legalization, the owner of a nowdefunct Regina marijuana business became the first to be sentenced among those busted during this year’s city police raids.
Jonathan Metz, the 30-year-old owner of Green Street, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking during a Tuesday appearance at Regina Provincial Court. After hearing submissions from Crown and defence counsel, Judge Leslie Halliday agreed to impose the jointly recommended 12-month conditional sentence, allowing Metz to serve a jail sentence in the community.
Speaking after court, defence lawyer Bob Hrycan said he believes Tuesday’s sentencing is the first of its kind in this province — meaning it’s also precedent-setting for a number of other marijuana dispensary files still before the court.
“There’s no question, in my mind anyway, that when the prosecution fixed this range, they were thinking about all the other cases that were coming down the pipe,” Hrycan said after court on Tuesday.
“So today’s sentence will stand as a guideline for what happens in the future.”
Federal Crown prosecutor Robin Neufeld told the court Green Street was one of several storefront cannabis outlets that didn’t respond to police warnings to close.
On Feb. 6, police delivered a warning letter to Green Street’s Francis Street shop, but the location remained open. In March, police sent undercover operators to the business four times, and were able to buy a total of 13 grams of marijuana.
On March 28, a search warrant was executed at the location. Police seized more than 800 grams of marijuana, 134 packages of cannabis resin, hundreds of edibles and other items containing THC (the property that causes the high) and/or CBD (the property said to contain health benefits without the high), as well as cannabis seeds and a quantity of cash.
Neufeld noted neither Green Street nor Metz was licensed by Health Canada to distribute or produce cannabis or its derivatives.
Metz has a short and somewhat dated criminal record, with a 2011 conviction for simple possession of a drug.
Hrycan told the court his client — who has both a degree in kinesiology and a certificate in business administration — has a medical marijuana prescription to help with health issues, including anxiety, depression and ADHD. As a result, Metz came to understand the health benefits of using marijuana and wanted to help others experience the same therapeutic benefits he did, Hrycan said.
“His goal was actually to assist people acquire licences so that they could purchase marijuana to deal with similar health-related issues,” Hrycan told the court. “But he jumped the gun. He essentially set up business operations prior to being licensed and prior to the government passing legislation to make that legal.”
Hrycan said his client is taking full responsibility for the offence. As a result, the Crown stayed charges against Kelly Jonathan Bonokowski, who court heard had also worked at Green Street.
Metz declined to comment after court.
Speaking outside of court, Hrycan said while his client was properly found guilty under existing law, he drew comparisons to bootleg outlets that operated during alcohol prohibition years and questioned “what is the harm, given that very soon, it’s going to be very easy to purchase marijuana?”
“Marijuana, simply put, has been proven to have serious medicinal qualities,” Hrycan added.
“I think it’s well-established that it’s helpful to treat symptoms of PTSD and I understand that it’s also very useful for chronic pain. So that being the case, what is the public interest in punishing somebody for distributing products to clients who really need the medical value of those products?”