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Ottawa police raided six marijuana dispensaries Friday morning, closing a big chunk of the city’s pot shops in one fell swoop.
It’s the first police action against the dispensaries that have been popping up in Ottawa, and is bound to ratchet up the heated debate over what to do about the illegal shops.
Teams of police officers, some in black balaclavas, descended on six dispensaries shortly after 10 a.m. and emerged with plastic bags stuffed with jars of dried weed and cannabis cookies, candy and pop. A search warrant on a seventh dispensary, which had already closed due to an eviction, was executed Thursday.
The targeted shops are operated by a B.C.-based outfit that moved into Ottawa this summer, opening dispensaries called Green Tree, WeeMedical and CannaGreen.
Police arrested nine store employees. They will face charges that include possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime. Some of the customers in the shops when police arrived were questioned and released.
Police said they seized dried marijuana, hash, hash oil, THC concentrate (shatter), cannabis-laced edibles and cash.
Ottawa police Chief Charles Bordeleau said he hopes the raids will serve as a warning. “We’re hopeful that today will send a clear message that the police service and our community do not want these locations because they are illegal and there may be consequences from an investigative perspective that they should be put on notice.”
Related
The police investigation showed that the raided shops were not selling only to licensed medical marijuana users, he said. Police continue to investigate the other shops, he said. There are still about 10 dispensaries in Ottawa.
Police employ other tactics against the dispensaries, too, such as intercepting marijuana deliveries and “drop-ins” by officers, said Bordeleau. Police have also sent letters to landlords of dispensaries warning them about the consequences of allowing illegal activities on their properties. One landlord evicted a CannaGreen dispensary on Roydon Place earlier this week.
Photos: Police conduct major raids on at least six Ottawa pot shops
Ottawa police raided at least six marijuana dispensaries across the city in a coordinated operation on Friday morning.
The chief rejected the suggestion that police haven’t been quick enough to act, saying investigations take time. The first dispensary opened in Ottawa a year ago, but most have popped up since the summer.
The raids were without incident. Employees were handcuffed and taken into custody. Police videotaped inside the stores, bagged up the merchandise and hauled it away in cardboard boxes and plastic cartons. They removed the ATMs in stores.
Police have faced pressure from some residents and city councillors to close the shops. But other Ottawans support the dispensaries or believe it’s a waste of money to close them since the federal government has promised to legalize recreational pot.
Reaction to the raids reflected both views.
A customer who arrived at the CannaGreen Dispensary in Orléans as it was being raided said he uses marijuana to control his multiple sclerosis symptoms. Her sister uses it to control the pain of her Stage 4 breast cancer instead of morphine.
“Morphine is so addictive,” said the 50-year-old man, who didn’t want to give his name. “What’s the worst that can happen with marijuana? You wake up surrounded by Mars bars wrappers.”
The man said he used CannaGreen’s edible products and found the shop clean and professional. “What am I going to do now?”
Ottawa Police carry out a black bag during raid on an illegal pot shop, Green Tree Medical Dispensary at 290 Montreal Rd. in Vanier Friday, November 4, 2016. It was part of a crack down on at least five of the city’s 17 illegal pot shops.
The shop opened on St. Joseph Boulevard this fall to a chorus of complaints from parents whose children attend the Kumon tutoring school and The Edge Taekwon-do Academy that are housed in the same building. Some parents said they didn’t want their children exposed to a pot shop. Others were concerned about people driving too fast or smoking pot in the parking lot shared by all tenants in the building.
“This is good news!” said Nawal Zayat, a mother of two young children who attend the tutoring and taekwon-do. She’s sympathetic to people who need medical marijuana, but said it’s not the right location.
When the Citizen visited the shop, staff sold marijuana to anyone who presented ID proving they were 19. Customers were asked to fill out a form and told a doctor would contact them within five months.
Medical marijuana is legal, but not if sold from a store. Patients with a doctor’s prescription can grow a small amount for themselves, or purchase by mail from a grower licensed by Health Canada.
The seven raided shops are sparse, featuring cases of cannabis products and an ATM. Staff generally refuse to comment and say they aren’t allowed to reveal the names of the managers or owners.
A woman who answered the phone at the WeeMedical Dispensary Society in Vancouver on Friday said the company’s principal, Justin Liu, was in Ottawa Friday but “did not want to be connected to any reporters.”
Liu’s voicemail was full. He has not answered numerous phone messages. Emailed requests for information sent to the Green Tree, WeeMedical and CannaGreen company websites have not been returned.
Several customers outside the Rideau Street WeeMedical shop said they were upset by the raid. “It’s a great injustice in a neighbourhood where a lot of people end up being busted for simple pot possession,” said Chris VonBormann, who described herself as the “champion of people in Lowertown.”
“There’s a huge amount of crime in this neighbourhood that’s related to pot,” she said. “You set up a place like this, you have a lot less people going through the (criminal justice ) system. It saves a lot of money. And a lot of people who have illnesses and ailments come here.
“Trudeau’s mandated to legalize this stuff. So where are you, Justin?”
But at the strip mall on Roydon Place near Merivale Road and Hunt Club, the owner of The Hobby Shop was happy to see the pot shop next door closed.
“It’s over, and I’m very relieved,” said Bill Chappell, who was upset about the smell of pot wafting into his store. His customers were also spooked by some of the customers at the CannaGreen outlet that opened there this fall. In recent weeks the shop was operating from a crude takeout window carved into the plywood that covered the front of the storefront after a truck drove into it.
The landlord, who says he had no idea the “medical dispensary” would be selling marijuana, evicted CannaGreen earlier this week. The bailiff enforced the eviction order on Wednesday. The drug squad arrived Thursday with a search warrant for the drug raid.
Ottawa Coun. Mathieu Fleury, who had called on police to close dispensaries in his ward, applauded the police action. He has pushed the police brass for an explanation of why illegal shops were allowed to operate.
Most locally owned marijuana dispensaries remained open Friday, including Magna Terra Health Services shops on Carling Avenue and in Stittsville; the OMD on Antares Drive; and the Ottawa Cannabis Dispensary on Laperrierre Avenue.
The Capital City Cannabis Clinics on Bank Street at Hunt Club has been closed for a week, since an employee was robbed at gunpoint. A sign on the door said it’s closed for an indeterminate amount of time.
The Weeds Glass & Gifts store on Bank Street closed Friday after manager Kristina Simpson heard about the raids around 11:30 a.m. “Just in case anything did happen, we didn’t want a whole store full of customers,” she said.
Her shop caters to medical marijuana users, she said. “I’m hoping that not every single one of the shops in Ottawa is raided and has to shut down.”
She hadn’t decided whether the store would open Saturday.
jmiller@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JacquieAMiller
with files from Blair Crawford, Joanne Laucius, Joe Lofaro, Jon Willing, Megan Gillis, Tony Caldwell, Wayne Cuddington, Darren Brown,
VOICES
Chris VonBormann Customer of Wee Medical marijuana dispensary on Rideau Street was angry about the police raid.
“Hey, Trudeau has mandated the legalization of marijuana. This is really not fair!”
Chris VonBormann, customer at the WeeMedical shop on Rideau Street
Mother of two children Nawal Zayat
“This is good news! It’s not the right place for it.”
Nawal Zayat, mother of two kids who attend the martial-arts academy and tutoring school in the same building as the Orléans CannaGreen
“It keeps a lot of people from going to drug dealers and running around on the streets asking people for weed. It’s a safe environment.”
Tim Massie, a customer at the WeeMedical on Rideau Street
“Let people chose. But it’s better if they have it regulated. The government can get some taxes from it.”
Sam Awta, passerby during the raid on the WeeMedical shop on Rideau Street
Bill Chappell, owner of The Hobby Centre on Roydon Place
“I’m relieved it’s over. It was like having a target on us, between the truck crashing into the front, the robbery, the kind of customers coming in … ”
Bill Chappell, owner of a hobby store next to the CannaGreen outlet on Roydon Place.
“They didn’t seem to be causing trouble.”
Lori Mellor, executive director of the Preston Street BIA, on the Green Tree dispensary on Preston
查看原文...
It’s the first police action against the dispensaries that have been popping up in Ottawa, and is bound to ratchet up the heated debate over what to do about the illegal shops.
Teams of police officers, some in black balaclavas, descended on six dispensaries shortly after 10 a.m. and emerged with plastic bags stuffed with jars of dried weed and cannabis cookies, candy and pop. A search warrant on a seventh dispensary, which had already closed due to an eviction, was executed Thursday.
The targeted shops are operated by a B.C.-based outfit that moved into Ottawa this summer, opening dispensaries called Green Tree, WeeMedical and CannaGreen.
Police arrested nine store employees. They will face charges that include possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime. Some of the customers in the shops when police arrived were questioned and released.
Police said they seized dried marijuana, hash, hash oil, THC concentrate (shatter), cannabis-laced edibles and cash.
Ottawa police Chief Charles Bordeleau said he hopes the raids will serve as a warning. “We’re hopeful that today will send a clear message that the police service and our community do not want these locations because they are illegal and there may be consequences from an investigative perspective that they should be put on notice.”
Related
The police investigation showed that the raided shops were not selling only to licensed medical marijuana users, he said. Police continue to investigate the other shops, he said. There are still about 10 dispensaries in Ottawa.
Police employ other tactics against the dispensaries, too, such as intercepting marijuana deliveries and “drop-ins” by officers, said Bordeleau. Police have also sent letters to landlords of dispensaries warning them about the consequences of allowing illegal activities on their properties. One landlord evicted a CannaGreen dispensary on Roydon Place earlier this week.
Photos: Police conduct major raids on at least six Ottawa pot shops
Ottawa police raided at least six marijuana dispensaries across the city in a coordinated operation on Friday morning.
-
Tactical team members carry crowbars, hammers and specialty tools from the building as Ottawa police conduct raids on a number of pot shops including Wee Medical on Rideau St. It's believed they tried to open a safe but wasn't confirmed. Wayne Cuddington / Postmedia
An officer places crime tape at the scene as Ottawa police conduct raids on a number of pot shops including Wee Medical on Rideau St. Wayne Cuddington / Postmedia
A woman is arrested and placed in a cruiser as Ottawa police conduct raids on a number of pot shops including Wee Medical on Rideau St. Wayne Cuddington / Postmedia
A man who went by the name "Curly" grimaces while being interrogated as Ottawa police conduct raids on a number of pot shops including Wee Medical on Rideau St. He later said he was released without charges as he was only a customer in the shop. Wayne Cuddington / Postmedia
A woman is arrested and placed in a cruiser as Ottawa police conduct raids on a number of pot shops including Wee Medical on Rideau St. Wayne Cuddington / Postmedia
A man who went by the name "Curly" looks out of the window while being interrogated as Ottawa police conduct raids on a number of pot shops including Wee Medical on Rideau St. He later said he was released without charges as he was only a customer in the shop. Wayne Cuddington / Postmedia
Ottawa Police load an ATM machine into a van during a raid on an illegal pot shop, Green Tree Medical Dispensary at 290 Montreal Rd. in Vanier Friday, November 4, 2016. It was part of a crack down on at least five of the city's 17 illegal pot shop. Darren Brown / Postmedia
Ottawa Police carry out a black bag during raid on an illegal pot shop, Green Tree Medical Dispensary at 290 Montreal Rd. in Vanier Friday, November 4, 2016. It was part of a crack down on at least five of the city's 17 illegal pot shops. Darren Brown / Postmedia
Ottawa Police raid an illegal pot shop, Green Tree Medical Dispensary at 290 Montreal Rd. in Vanier Friday, November 4, 2016. It was part of a crack down on at least five of the city's 17 illegal pot shops. Darren Brown / Postmedia
Ottawa Police carry out an ATM machine during a raid on an illegal pot shop, Green Tree Medical Dispensary at 290 Montreal Rd. in Vanier Friday, November 4, 2016. It was part of a crack down on at least five of the city's 17 illegal pot shops. Darren Brown / Postmedia
Ottawa Police raid an illegal pot shop, Green Tree Medical Dispensary at 290 Montreal Rd. in Vanier Friday, November 4, 2016. It was part of a crack down on at least five of the city's 17 illegal pot shops. Darren Brown / Postmedia
Ottawa police raid Wee Medical Dispensary Society at 293 St Laurent Blvd. in Ottawa Friday Nov 4, 2016. Tony Caldwell / Postmedia Network
Ottawa police raid Wee Medical Dispensary Society at 293 St Laurent Blvd. in Ottawa Friday Nov 4, 2016. Tony Caldwell / Postmedia Network
Ottawa police raid Wee Medical Dispensary Society at 293 St Laurent Blvd in Ottawa Friday Nov 4, 2016. Tony Caldwell / Postmedia Network
Ottawa police raid Wee Medical Dispensary Society at 293 St Laurent Blvd in Ottawa Friday Nov 4, 2016. Tony Caldwell / Postmedia Network
Police raided Wee Medical at 293 St Laurent Blvd. In Ottawa Friday morning.
Raphael Riche stopped by for a cpl of grams. 'Seems a bit silly. It's going to be legal'
Police remove what looked like an ATM machine from the Green Tree pot shop on Montreal Rd. Darren Brown / The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Police put up tape at Wee Medical Dispensary Society on Rideau Street. Brian Platt / The Ottawa Citizen
Police have raided a marijuana dispensary on Preston Street.
Ottawa Police raiding Green Tree Medical Dispensary pot shop on Montreal Rd in Vanier Darren Brown / Ottawa Citizen
Police lead a person working at the marijuana dispensary out in handcuffs, taken away in police car.
"OPEN" sign still on as police inside raiding the dispensary. Brian Platt / Ottawa Citizen
Cops raiding weedical on Rideau Jacquie Miller / Postmedia
The chief rejected the suggestion that police haven’t been quick enough to act, saying investigations take time. The first dispensary opened in Ottawa a year ago, but most have popped up since the summer.
The raids were without incident. Employees were handcuffed and taken into custody. Police videotaped inside the stores, bagged up the merchandise and hauled it away in cardboard boxes and plastic cartons. They removed the ATMs in stores.
Police have faced pressure from some residents and city councillors to close the shops. But other Ottawans support the dispensaries or believe it’s a waste of money to close them since the federal government has promised to legalize recreational pot.
Reaction to the raids reflected both views.
A customer who arrived at the CannaGreen Dispensary in Orléans as it was being raided said he uses marijuana to control his multiple sclerosis symptoms. Her sister uses it to control the pain of her Stage 4 breast cancer instead of morphine.
“Morphine is so addictive,” said the 50-year-old man, who didn’t want to give his name. “What’s the worst that can happen with marijuana? You wake up surrounded by Mars bars wrappers.”
The man said he used CannaGreen’s edible products and found the shop clean and professional. “What am I going to do now?”
Ottawa Police carry out a black bag during raid on an illegal pot shop, Green Tree Medical Dispensary at 290 Montreal Rd. in Vanier Friday, November 4, 2016. It was part of a crack down on at least five of the city’s 17 illegal pot shops.
The shop opened on St. Joseph Boulevard this fall to a chorus of complaints from parents whose children attend the Kumon tutoring school and The Edge Taekwon-do Academy that are housed in the same building. Some parents said they didn’t want their children exposed to a pot shop. Others were concerned about people driving too fast or smoking pot in the parking lot shared by all tenants in the building.
“This is good news!” said Nawal Zayat, a mother of two young children who attend the tutoring and taekwon-do. She’s sympathetic to people who need medical marijuana, but said it’s not the right location.
When the Citizen visited the shop, staff sold marijuana to anyone who presented ID proving they were 19. Customers were asked to fill out a form and told a doctor would contact them within five months.
Medical marijuana is legal, but not if sold from a store. Patients with a doctor’s prescription can grow a small amount for themselves, or purchase by mail from a grower licensed by Health Canada.
The seven raided shops are sparse, featuring cases of cannabis products and an ATM. Staff generally refuse to comment and say they aren’t allowed to reveal the names of the managers or owners.
A woman who answered the phone at the WeeMedical Dispensary Society in Vancouver on Friday said the company’s principal, Justin Liu, was in Ottawa Friday but “did not want to be connected to any reporters.”
Liu’s voicemail was full. He has not answered numerous phone messages. Emailed requests for information sent to the Green Tree, WeeMedical and CannaGreen company websites have not been returned.
Several customers outside the Rideau Street WeeMedical shop said they were upset by the raid. “It’s a great injustice in a neighbourhood where a lot of people end up being busted for simple pot possession,” said Chris VonBormann, who described herself as the “champion of people in Lowertown.”
“There’s a huge amount of crime in this neighbourhood that’s related to pot,” she said. “You set up a place like this, you have a lot less people going through the (criminal justice ) system. It saves a lot of money. And a lot of people who have illnesses and ailments come here.
“Trudeau’s mandated to legalize this stuff. So where are you, Justin?”
But at the strip mall on Roydon Place near Merivale Road and Hunt Club, the owner of The Hobby Shop was happy to see the pot shop next door closed.
“It’s over, and I’m very relieved,” said Bill Chappell, who was upset about the smell of pot wafting into his store. His customers were also spooked by some of the customers at the CannaGreen outlet that opened there this fall. In recent weeks the shop was operating from a crude takeout window carved into the plywood that covered the front of the storefront after a truck drove into it.
The landlord, who says he had no idea the “medical dispensary” would be selling marijuana, evicted CannaGreen earlier this week. The bailiff enforced the eviction order on Wednesday. The drug squad arrived Thursday with a search warrant for the drug raid.
Ottawa Coun. Mathieu Fleury, who had called on police to close dispensaries in his ward, applauded the police action. He has pushed the police brass for an explanation of why illegal shops were allowed to operate.
Most locally owned marijuana dispensaries remained open Friday, including Magna Terra Health Services shops on Carling Avenue and in Stittsville; the OMD on Antares Drive; and the Ottawa Cannabis Dispensary on Laperrierre Avenue.
The Capital City Cannabis Clinics on Bank Street at Hunt Club has been closed for a week, since an employee was robbed at gunpoint. A sign on the door said it’s closed for an indeterminate amount of time.
The Weeds Glass & Gifts store on Bank Street closed Friday after manager Kristina Simpson heard about the raids around 11:30 a.m. “Just in case anything did happen, we didn’t want a whole store full of customers,” she said.
Her shop caters to medical marijuana users, she said. “I’m hoping that not every single one of the shops in Ottawa is raided and has to shut down.”
She hadn’t decided whether the store would open Saturday.
jmiller@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JacquieAMiller
with files from Blair Crawford, Joanne Laucius, Joe Lofaro, Jon Willing, Megan Gillis, Tony Caldwell, Wayne Cuddington, Darren Brown,
VOICES
Chris VonBormann Customer of Wee Medical marijuana dispensary on Rideau Street was angry about the police raid.
“Hey, Trudeau has mandated the legalization of marijuana. This is really not fair!”
Chris VonBormann, customer at the WeeMedical shop on Rideau Street
Mother of two children Nawal Zayat
“This is good news! It’s not the right place for it.”
Nawal Zayat, mother of two kids who attend the martial-arts academy and tutoring school in the same building as the Orléans CannaGreen
“It keeps a lot of people from going to drug dealers and running around on the streets asking people for weed. It’s a safe environment.”
Tim Massie, a customer at the WeeMedical on Rideau Street
“Let people chose. But it’s better if they have it regulated. The government can get some taxes from it.”
Sam Awta, passerby during the raid on the WeeMedical shop on Rideau Street
Bill Chappell, owner of The Hobby Centre on Roydon Place
“I’m relieved it’s over. It was like having a target on us, between the truck crashing into the front, the robbery, the kind of customers coming in … ”
Bill Chappell, owner of a hobby store next to the CannaGreen outlet on Roydon Place.
“They didn’t seem to be causing trouble.”
Lori Mellor, executive director of the Preston Street BIA, on the Green Tree dispensary on Preston
查看原文...
