Waterloo Region police set to target illegal cannabis sales
WATERLOO REGION — The region’s police service is realigning its drug investigative and enforcement teams to tackle an anticipated increase in illegal cannabis dispensary storefronts in the wake of legislation pushing back legal privatized sales of recreational cannabis.
At the Waterloo Regional Police Services board meeting last week, Chief Bryan Larkin gave members notice the service will be reigniting efforts to shut down illegal cannabis dispensaries in the region.
“I will give the board a heads up,” Larkin said. “We have shifted our focus to illegal dispensaries again. They’re popping up.”
Although the service’s drug and firearms investigative and enforcement teams made shutting down illegal cannabis storefront sales a priority over the past year, the chief said that changes in Ontario’s legislation could result in an increase in illegal cannabis retail sales.
As of Oct. 17, federal and provincial cannabis legislation goes into effect, making it legal for those aged 19 and older to buy and consume recreational cannabis. However, Ontarians will only be able to purchase it online via the province’s Ontario Cannabis Store. If legislation is passed, tightly regulated retail storefronts will become legal, but not until April next year.
That gap between legalized online purchases and much later legal privatized retail models will leave the door open for grey market opportunities, warns the chief.
“Not everybody will be able to go online, not everybody has access to a credit card, and so there will still be a grey market,” he said. “And that grey market will pop up through dispensaries, which will get citizen complaints, which will require us to take action.”
He cited Trymz, a Cambridge cannabis retail store, as an example of an ongoing problem involving sellers who are determined to flout the law.
“In Preston, we hit the location three times, and it opened up within 24 hours each time.”
Larkin said the service is prepared for the legalization of online sales as of Oct. 17 from a public safety perspective and has trained officers in cannabis legislation. But police are now looking to prepare for legislation changes, with a renewed focus on illegal dispensaries.
The police service plans to realign its three regional drug and firearm teams to target illegal dispensaries, as a means to enforce the cannabis laws and protect consumers from buying unregulated, potentially unsafe cannabis products.
The chief said the service takes a “balanced” approach when confronting illegal dispensaries.
“We actually approach the store first to serve notice around this is illegal, you need to cease and desist. If they refuse, then obviously we proceed with a controlled drug and substance act warrant and execute and arrest.”
In early August, police shut down the King Street East illegal cannabis storefront twice in one week, arresting three Hamilton-area residents and seizing a large quantity of marijuanabased products, including packaged candy and treat edibles, as well as cannabis resin. Drug teams also seized cash from the business.
Police services board member and Cambridge representative on regional council Karl Kiefer has heard complaints from residents about illegal cannabis retail shops opening in his Preston neighbourhood, saying it’s a big concern, especially for downtown businesses.
Until private retail sales of recreational cannabis are legal, authorities will have to continue finding ways of addressing illegal shops, he said.
“I guess the question is: How come they keep reopening?”
It’s estimated there are at least 10 illegal cannabis retail storefronts on the police service’s radar at any given time.