After the Nov. 4 raid of six marijuana dispensaries across the city, two have reopened in recent days, including one in Centretown.
The two reopened locations on Preston Street and Montreal Road have limited stock and no edible cannabis products. The location on Montreal Road is also missing its electronic payment system, which was removed during the police raid.
Both of the locations are part of The Green Tree franchise chain. These two shops and the four other dispensaries raided by police are connected to a larger British Columbia-based company with numerous locations across the country under different names.
Rideau-Vanier Mathieu Fleury said of the closing and reopening of dispensaries: “It’s cat and mouse until the federal legislation is in place.”
The federal government has said it will introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis use this spring. Medical marijuana has already been legalized.
Supporters of these local marijuana dispensaries have said that police should not devote their resources or time to shutting down these shops and should focus their efforts on other issues.