Marijuana dispensary reopens after raid

KITCHENER — Just weeks after it was raided by police and its employees carted away in handcuffs, an illegal marijuana dispensary is open again under a new name and “new management.”

The former Green Tree Medical Dispensary at 650 King St. E. in Kitchener was shut down March 10 as part of a police crackdown on the unregulated storefronts that have been popping up around the region.

Signs for Green Tree, part of a national chain with a shadowy ownership based in British Columbia, remain on the building — but a handwritten message taped to a desk inside the business’ front entrance says it’s now called Herbal Leaf.

A buzzer controls a locked door that leads to the retail area, where there are jars of marijuana back on the shelves and a young female clerk behind the till. A red “Open” sign flickers on the front door.

The employee said she couldn’t say who the new management was or answer any other questions, explaining that “some random guy on the street” asked her if she wanted a job at the store, and she took it. The shop reopened on Sunday.

Four employees arrested last month in the raid at the same store, meanwhile, are out on bail and facing two counts each of drug trafficking. All of them are in

their 20s or late teens, and at least one of them is seeking legal aid to help with their defence.

Police seized $26,800 worth of marijuana, $5,400 worth of hash and $17,000 in cash. The owner of the business has not been charged.

With the federal government saying it wants to legalize recreational marijuana use by July 2018, it’s an unusual time for the marijuana industry in Canada. While police have been pressured to enforce the rules as they exist, others have tried to get an early jump on what’s believed to be a multibillion-dollar market.

But police say there should be no confusion around the legality of storefront dispensaries like Green Tree — they remain against the law.

“The laws have not changed, and we hope that people respect the current laws,” said Cherri Greeno, a spokesperson for the Waterloo Regional Police.

“We have taken steps to ensure these businesses are aware of the current law, and informing them they’re operating in contravention of it. Any business that continues to operate risks being further investigated.”

After the raid on Green Tree and following warnings from police, four other local marijuana dispensaries, including Kitchener’s oldest compassion club for people with medical marijuana prescriptions, closed voluntarily.

Sandra Thornton, general manager of the now-closed Organix Compassion, said it’s hard to watch her club’s 700 patients struggle to fill their cannabis prescriptions while another dispensary reopens and continues to thumb its nose at the law.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” she said. “The police chief has made it abundantly clear he wasn’t going to tolerate anybody opening up again, or pay any attention to civil law, which says compassion clubs have every right to be there and should be there.”

It’s possible the laws around recreational marijuana may change before the four charged in the Green Tree raid are processed through the courts — but if found guilty, they would still be convicted under the law at the time of the alleged offence.

Darwin Witmer, a lawyer for one of the accused, stressed that while the law may be changing for recreational users, there will still be penalties for sellers who don’t follow the rules.

“The fact is that currently the law does not permit the sale of marijuana by distributors without a licence. Also, to legally purchase, a person needs to have medical approval and follow the process for obtaining approval,” he said.

If the laws around penalties change for people convicted of trafficking, those charged under the old rules would be entitled to the lesser sentence, Witmer said.

“If there is a change in the penalty provisions then, if a person is guilty, they will be entitled to the most lenient sentence,” he said.