By Jon Hiltz

 

A few days ago the Globe and Mail reported that Bill Blair, Trudeau’s point man on all things marijuana, has been very quietly holding meetings with a chosen few in the dispensary community and others involved in the MMJ industry. The rumor mill churned that these meetings were to explore how the landscape of Canadian cannabis could include dispensaries and other private marijuana businesses.

This quite possibly could be a result of the backlash police and government officials are seeing from the public in regards to the unnecessary raids in Toronto and elsewhere — with four additional raids conducted yesterday.

“Bill Blair is being ordered by his higher-ups to take stakeholder meetings with people like myself who are taking leadership roles,” said Kevin Hall, Executive Director of Chronic Pain Toronto. “I haven’t met with Bill Blair myself but I did a lot of work with John Tory’s office between August 2015 to December 2015.” Hall went on to say that he has met with all the City Officials in Toronto including John Tory and the Toronto Police. “We did an $80,000 report for them. They were asking me how do we regulate, [where]it relieves them of liability and where it makes it a win-win for the public, the patients and the police department.”

Up to this point the government and police services across the country seemed to be taking the stance that when it comes to selling pot, it’s their way or the highway. This was further demonstrated by the May 26th execution of “Project Claudia” where 45 dispensaries were raided by police and 90 charges were laid. Now it is clear that the idea of dispensaries in one form or another may actually be a possibility.

None of the many dispensary owners Marijuana.com contacted were approached, so the decision-making process for who can speak on this issue remains a mystery. However, Hall feels his group was contacted because of their expertise and because they are a neutral entity and not specifically pro-pot. “Chronic Pain Toronto has had great success helping both patients and physicians navigate the healthcare system regardless of whether it is cannabis or not, in fact, cannabis is not our focal point. Our focus is lack of access that burdens our healthcare system.”

Clearly, if the city is discussing this with Hall and others in the industry, then the discussion must be about regulations and how these businesses should operate. “You have to ask the question, what is a dispensary? [The city’s] definition of dispensary is a hole-in-the-wall, quick buck… I have been to a lot of them and done due diligence all through California, BC and Toronto and about 70% of them have no real medical attributes.” Hall does believe that cannabis dispensaries should exist in Canada as long as they meet strict criteria and he laid that criteria out in an 80-page report that he presented to the police and the city.

In regards to the police raids Hall is quick to point out that it shouldn’t be happening. “They are unconstitutional, that is not priority policing.” Hall went on to add that he sent emails to the Mayor advising him that they should shut dispensaries down using by-law violations such as businesses with no wheelchair access or ones that don’t conform to building codes. He believes this would be much better than raids and arrests. “One of my concerns is the day after the police raids [on May 26th]a pregnant woman was murdered, and they took [officers]off guns and gang violence to execute those raids.” Hall is also disappointed that police and the city are lumping everyone into the same category and it is giving some legitimate wellness centers a bad name. “The problem is they are looping certain business in with dispensaries that are actually helping patients.”

Hall also shares the opinion of many others in the industry that the licensed producers have been lobbying the city in regards to the dispensary issue and that their incentive is purely to retain exclusivity in distribution. “Tweed and Tilray met with the City of Toronto 14 times before the raids.”

As this drama continues to unfold, police continue to repeat their raids like a mindless automaton, while the date to unveil a promised framework for recreational cannabis inches forward. Truly confusing times indeed.