Don’t operate outside the law

Last May, when police raided illegal pot shops across Toronto, Mayor John Tory said he was worried about their alarming proliferation near schools and in residential neighbourhoods. “We cannot just have the Wild West when it comes to dispensaries cropping up on every street corner,” he said.

The mayor was right at the time. Distressingly, his concerns now seem understated after police made clear this week just how dangerous these shops can be to their customers, staff and neighbours.

Clients and employees alike have been stabbed, beaten, pistolwhipped and pepper-sprayed in the course of13 armed robberies in the past eight months at illegal pot shops. And those are just the thefts that police know about.

That’s because shop owners don’t always report the robberies for fear that police will confiscate their marijuana supplies.

That thinking is just plain dangerous for all concerned: employees, customers, neighbours and passersby.

“I realize there is no legal obligation to report a crime, but where is your moral sense of an obligation?” Toronto Police Supt. Bryce Evans asked pot shop owners who don’t report robberies. “When will you step up to the plate for your employees (and) customers?”

Here’s a better idea. Instead of acting as magnets for criminals, pot shop owners should close down until the federal government passes legislation on how and to whom cannabis can be sold. Then it will be up to the province to decide who can operate retail outlets and where; that may well include well-regulated, secure dispensaries.

Until then, whether they call themselves dispensaries or stores, whether they ask to see a prescription for medical marijuana or not, Toronto’s 44 pot shops are operating outside the law.

The only legal way to access medical marijuana in Canada is with a doctor’s prescription via registered mail from one of 38 producers licensed by Health Canada.

Not that there isn’t plenty of blame to spread around on the proliferation of cannabis retailers.

Last February a federal judge in British Columbia struck down restrictions on medical marijuana users growing their own plants. Among the legal uncertainty that followed, dispensaries spread like wildfire.

And, of course, pot shop owners are anticipating the legalization of marijuana sales in legislation that the Trudeau government has promised to introduce this spring.

The government should bring its legislation forward as quickly as possible to clear up the confusion. But federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has reminded illegal storefront owners that until that legislation is passed, “the law is the law.” It should be enforced.

That’s something marijuana storefronts need to keep in mind even as they rake in what police say can be up to $30,000 worth of sales of marijuana and other cannabis products a day in cash sales.

Acting Insp. Steve Watts of the Toronto Drug Squad has noted that there was a debate following last spring’s raids on pot shops about whether illegal dispensaries present a public safety issue. After the string of armed robberies, there’s little doubt that they are.

It’s time pot shop owners ceased and desisted operations until selling marijuana, outside of the current restricted mail order system, is legalized.

It’s the only responsible and safe thing to do.

Instead of acting as magnets for criminals, pot shop owners should close down until legislation is passed