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Police raided the Cannabis Culture marijuana dispensary on Bank Street Thursday morning for the third time since it opened nearly a year ago.
But this time they arrived with a bailiff who was enforcing an eviction notice from the landlord.
The lock was changed on the front door and a notice posted there saying the tenant’s lease was being terminated.
Five people working inside were released without charges, said Reggie Belanger, who was one of them.
In the two previous raids on the shop, clerks inside were charged with drug trafficking, but the dispensary restocked and reopened within a day or two.
Ottawa police have said it’s difficult to prevent illegal dispensaries from operating because officers don’t have the power to padlock their doors.
Gerry Shapiro, one of the directors of the numbered company that owns the building, said he and his business partner had already asked Cannabis Culture to leave, but the tenant had refused.
A lawyer for Cannabis Culture warned the landlords that the dispensary would fight in court any attempt to terminate the lease, said Shapiro in a phone interview from Montreal.
On Thursday, Ottawa police arrived shortly after the shop opened at 10 a.m. with the bailiff who was enforcing the termination notice from the landlord.
The notice on the door said the tenants had violated a clause in the lease and could only return to get personal belongings with the permission of the bailiff.
Belanger, who suffers from anxiety disorders, had a panic attack inside the dispensary after police arrived. Police allowed a service dog owned by Belanger’s brother, who also volunteers at the dispensary, into the shop to help calm him down.
Adam Ramsey, another shop volunteer, said he was questioned by police and released.
“I got a break because they didn’t want to do more paperwork,” he speculated. “They’ve caught enough budtenders, they’re flooding the courts.”
Police have staged sporadic raids on the illegal shops for the past year, arresting several dozen clerks, managers and owners.
Ramsey said the raids are “all about money.”
The province plans to set up stores run by a subsidiary of the LCBO when recreational pot is legalized by the federal government.
The province wants to enforce its monopoly on pot sales, pushing out privately-run independent shops, said Ramsey.
Many medical patients rely on Cannabis Culture, he said. “Everybody wants us here yet we are being shut down.”
A 60-year old customer who identified himself as “John” arrived to find the store closed. He said he’s been patronizing Cannabis Culture since it opened.
Marijuana helps him cope with debilitating back pain he has suffered since falling off a roof in 2008, said John.
Medical marijuana can be purchased legally by mail order from growers licensed by Health Canada, but John said his doctor refuses to write him a prescription.
Cannabis Culture was part of a brand created by Marc and Jodie Emery, well known Canadian cannabis activists. They were forced to distance themselves from the business after being arrested for drug trafficking.
The Ottawa store is a franchise. Staffers decline to identify the owner.
The dispensary opened in February 2017 and was raided by police in March and again in October. Five clerks were arrested in each raid, and their cases are now making their way through the court system.
Cannabis Culture is one of more than a dozen dispensaries in town.
Jmiller@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/JacquieAMiller
查看原文...
But this time they arrived with a bailiff who was enforcing an eviction notice from the landlord.
The lock was changed on the front door and a notice posted there saying the tenant’s lease was being terminated.
Five people working inside were released without charges, said Reggie Belanger, who was one of them.
In the two previous raids on the shop, clerks inside were charged with drug trafficking, but the dispensary restocked and reopened within a day or two.
Ottawa police have said it’s difficult to prevent illegal dispensaries from operating because officers don’t have the power to padlock their doors.
Gerry Shapiro, one of the directors of the numbered company that owns the building, said he and his business partner had already asked Cannabis Culture to leave, but the tenant had refused.
A lawyer for Cannabis Culture warned the landlords that the dispensary would fight in court any attempt to terminate the lease, said Shapiro in a phone interview from Montreal.
On Thursday, Ottawa police arrived shortly after the shop opened at 10 a.m. with the bailiff who was enforcing the termination notice from the landlord.
The notice on the door said the tenants had violated a clause in the lease and could only return to get personal belongings with the permission of the bailiff.
Belanger, who suffers from anxiety disorders, had a panic attack inside the dispensary after police arrived. Police allowed a service dog owned by Belanger’s brother, who also volunteers at the dispensary, into the shop to help calm him down.
Adam Ramsey, another shop volunteer, said he was questioned by police and released.
“I got a break because they didn’t want to do more paperwork,” he speculated. “They’ve caught enough budtenders, they’re flooding the courts.”
Police have staged sporadic raids on the illegal shops for the past year, arresting several dozen clerks, managers and owners.
Ramsey said the raids are “all about money.”
The province plans to set up stores run by a subsidiary of the LCBO when recreational pot is legalized by the federal government.
The province wants to enforce its monopoly on pot sales, pushing out privately-run independent shops, said Ramsey.
Many medical patients rely on Cannabis Culture, he said. “Everybody wants us here yet we are being shut down.”
A 60-year old customer who identified himself as “John” arrived to find the store closed. He said he’s been patronizing Cannabis Culture since it opened.
Marijuana helps him cope with debilitating back pain he has suffered since falling off a roof in 2008, said John.
Medical marijuana can be purchased legally by mail order from growers licensed by Health Canada, but John said his doctor refuses to write him a prescription.
Cannabis Culture was part of a brand created by Marc and Jodie Emery, well known Canadian cannabis activists. They were forced to distance themselves from the business after being arrested for drug trafficking.
The Ottawa store is a franchise. Staffers decline to identify the owner.
The dispensary opened in February 2017 and was raided by police in March and again in October. Five clerks were arrested in each raid, and their cases are now making their way through the court system.
Cannabis Culture is one of more than a dozen dispensaries in town.
Jmiller@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/JacquieAMiller
查看原文...
