More police raids on pot shops fuel debate over marijuana sales

By Nate Dove

Police raided two Ottawa cannabis dispensaries on Oct. 3. Officers arrived at Cannabis Culture on Bank Street and Dr. Greenthumb on Montreal Road, seizing dried marijuana, cannabis oil and cannabis concentrates.

Five employees of Cannabis Culture were arrested. Uniformed officers, the SWAT team and drug squad officers took part in the raid.

It was the second time Cannabis Culture had been raided.

There have now been 18 police raids on cannabis stores in Ottawa over the past year.

The illegality of marijuana stores was reinforced when the Ontario government recently announced that all sales of marijuana would be administered by the LCBO — a clarification of the forthcoming regime in the province for legalized sales of marijuana.

Many advocates had initially hoped that private enterprises would be able to sell marijuana products, as many have been in the lead up to legalization, despite the shops’ unsanctioned status.

Despite the Ontario government’s announcement of its plan, many marijuana activists still believe the sale of cannabis products should be open to private businesses. Several activists were at Cannabis Culture when it was raided, shouting at police that they should be targeting harder drugs.

The federal Liberal government said in April that marijuana would be made legal by July 1,, 2018. That plan has drawn criticism from opposition parties and experts in the field who say the plan doesn’t leave enough time to properly prepare for marijuana to be made legal and more widely accessible.