By Guest Post
A new restaurant with an interesting twist opened up recently in Toronto with some fanfare and controversy.
Originally a swanky place in the Gay Village called ‘Get Melted,’ they served up gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. You’re probably thinking to yourself, “that’s awesome because what’s better than a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich?” The answer to that would be the upstairs vape lounge newly created to enjoy your favourite bud at the same time.
Get Melted received significant press and coasted along for a while and then like a caterpillar into a butterfly, it somehow edged out the grilled cheese portion of its business to become a full-fledged medical marijuana dispensary called C.A.L.M. (Cannabis As Living Medicine).
“Late summer of last year, my hunt for a dispensary location began in Toronto, and one of my business partners had this grilled cheese restaurant (Get Melted) that wasn’t sustainable and we decided to partner up and turn it into a dispensary,” said Aaron Judah, Managing Partner of C.A.L.M.
The dispensary is one of the most fully stocked in the city with many types of products for the cannabis enthusiast. “On average, we have 15-20 strains of dried cannabis which usually provide something for everyone’s needs. We have a full line of in-house baked edibles and carry about 20 different types of concentrates (hash, shatter, wax, prefilled vape cartridges, capsules, oils), lots of accessories and a great selection of seeds from different parts of the world.”
The status of dispensaries in Canada has been the subject of significant debate between the cannabis community, the various levels of government and local law enforcement who are chasing their own tails as they try to roll out the ‘rules’ for our new marijuana industry. This is all happening while the police are enforcing the old archaic laws and raiding dispensaries at random.
“People often refer to the ‘state’ we are in as a ‘grey area,’ when in my mind there is nothing grey about the area we operate in. We are on what I like to think of as the front lines of the war on medical marijuana” Judah says. He added that despite the war, as a result of recent policy shifts in Canada, we are also witnessing the walls of prohibition crumbling.
“There is a proliferation of dispensaries opening up everywhere across the country. In BC there are over 100, in Toronto somewhere between 50-75 and more in smaller pockets of the country as local municipalities warm up to the idea of having safe places for patients to access the medication they need and can’t find within the realm of the “legal” program our [former]Conservative government created. Yes there are a lot of dispensaries and no they are not legal … yet.”
When asked if Judah is happy with the speed the Trudeau Government is moving in regard to legalization, he says clearly that he isn’t and doesn’t expect the changes to happen within the Prime Minister’s first term. He is optimistic, though, about the future of pot in Canada. “The walls of prohibition are crumbling! Most of the modernized world sees that cannabis has a legitimate place in society for medical and recreational use alike. What the future looks like is still a bit unclear, but I am looking forward to the outcome and being a part of it!”
Whatever the future holds for the state of cannabis dispensaries in Toronto and elsewhere, time will tell. In the interim if you’re looking for peace and serenity, first you need to find C.A.L.M.
