Second pot shop to open downtown
Cannabis Culture reopens after raid, while Trent University business student prepares to open another marijuana store
Peterborough’s marijuana store, Cannabis Culture, reopened Tuesday morning, with city police announcing that the opening has their attention.
The shop was closed Sept. 15, days after it opened, when city police raided it and removed its products. Two people, store owner Richard Standen and employee Maranda Gallant, were arrested.
Standen, 62, of Wecker Drive in Oshawa, was charged with trafficking marijuana, possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime.
Gallant, 21, of Brock Street, was charged with trafficking marijuana. Both are now out on bail. One of Standen’s bail conditions means he’s not allowed back in the store.
Shortly after he was released on bail, he told The Examiner the store would reopen under the supervision of others.
The reopening was announced Monday afternoon on social media by marijuana advocate and Cannabis Culture store chair founder Marc Emery.
A lineup formed outside the store before it reopened.
City police issued a statement soon after the reopening, saying the situation will be monitored.
“There are laws in effect to control the sale and purchase of marijuana in Canada,” the release states. “Under current marijuana laws, the role of our Police Service remains enforcement of the current law. Those who breach those laws can be charged with criminal offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.”
Cannabis Culture sells marijuana to anyone older than 19 for either recreational or medicinal use.
Meanwhile, the store could soon be facing competition.
Cameron Ogden, a business student at Trent University, says he’s planning to open his own marijuana store in downtown Peterborough – one that would sell products only for medical use.
Ogden, 24, studies business and entrepreneurship at Trent. He says his new store downtown store will be called Trent Holistic Centre.
He’ll sell marijuana for smoking, as well as cannabis products for topical use such as salves and bath salts.
Ogden said he would ask customers to speak with him first about their medical conditions – and fill out forms – to determine whether his products could be helpful.
Only then would he sell you marijuana. It’s a model used by several stores in Toronto such as Canna Clinic, he said - except they have a nurse practitioner and a doctor do assessments.
Ogden said he plans to have a nurse practitioner too, once the store gets established.
In the early days, he’ll do assessments himself (he says he’s used marijuana to help with chronic back pain, and feels qualified to help customers).
It’s still unclear where this store will be located, or when it will open. Ogden says he’s having trouble finding a landlord willing to lease him space.
Landlords are wary of a business that could be closed within days, he says.
But he says stores in Toronto that sell marijuana strictly for medical use tend to stay open, while those that sell for recreational use get raided by police and shut down.
“It’s 90 per cent closer to what’s legal,” he said.