Compassion Club Society manager gets discharge

The store manager of the Atlantic Compassion Club Society has been given a conditional discharge after pleading guilty to possession of cannabis products for the purpose of trafficking.

After a break-in at the storefront on Main Street in Dartmouth in April 2018, police were called to the compassion club. The store manager, Alexander Terrio, showed the police video from the club’s security cameras as part of their investigation.

A series of police raids on the club followed, resulting in the seizure of three kilograms of marijuana and three kilograms of resin, which Terrio was charged with being in possession of for the purpose of trafficking.

Six months later, the federal government passed the Cannabis Act, legalizing recreational use and soon after, Nova Scotia’s provincial government began selling cannabis via the NSLC.

“While the retail location (the Compassion Club) and presentation of these illegal cannabis products might superficially have lent an air of legitimacy to such businesses, and they purport to provide a medical service, they remain at their core no different from the conduct of a traditional large-scale commercial ‘illegal drug dealer’,” wrote Supreme Court Justice Peter Rosinski in explaining his sentencing decision published on Tuesday.

“Without any state-supervised safety and related oversight, both provide a prohibited controlled substance (of an unconfirmed nature and quality, and which likely encourages other illegal activity related to the sourcing of the cannabis) to members of the public for money.”

The Crown sought a prison sentence of six months or less.

The defence pointed to Terrio being a military veteran with no criminal record, who began work at the compassion club as he sought a new life direction and believed he was helping others.

Rosinski gave particular weight to multiple character references describing Terrio’s “generous and compassionate nature” and that he lives with his 78-year-old grandmother, allowing her to remain in her own home.

Rosinski found that a conditional discharge was in Terrio’s “best interest and not contrary to the best interests of the public.”

The 12-month conditional discharge comes with 200 hours of community service, a firearms ban and forfeiture of the seized marijuana.