Canadians may be able to celebrate Canada Day in 2018 by legally smoking a joint, but that\u2019s small consolation to the 21-year-old clerk who was working the security desk at the Cannabis Culture shop on Bank Street on Monday. \u00a0He shrugged off the news that the federal government plans to have all the regulations in place for legal pot by July 1, 2018. That\u2019s the timeline reported by CBC, citing unnamed sources. The government had promised to introduce legislation to legalize recreational marijuana this spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping, but I have my doubts,\u201d said the budtender, one of five people arrested on May 9 when police raided the shop.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll they do is lie,\u201d he said, expressing a common suspicion among those in the \u201ccannabis community\u201d of government promises.<\/p>\n
The man didn\u2019t want his identity revealed because after he was charged with drug trafficking, he was released from custody with conditions that included not going into a marijuana dispensary.<\/p>\n
He was sitting at the front desk of the Bank Street shop, checking IDs and buzzing a steady stream of customers into the back room that contains dried weed and other cannabis products. He shrugged. \u201cI have a seventh grade education. I can\u2019t really get a job anywhere else. I have bills. I can\u2019t just sit at home and be broke.\u201d<\/p>\n
A 21-year-old ‘budtender’ working at the Cannabis Culture marijuana dispensary on Bank Street says he’s crossing his fingers that the federal government will move ahead with legalizing pot. He doesn’t want to publicly reveal his identity because he was ordered not to work at an illegal dispensary as a condition of his release from custody after he was arrested in a raid on the shop. He’s back at work because he needs the job.<\/p>\n
He said it\u2019s a great job, in a friendly environment. Cannabis Culture is paying the legal fees for the five clerks who were charged during the raid. They are to appear in court Wednesday, when supporters are planning a rally in front of the courthouse.<\/p>\n
Fellow budtender Ming Saad called police raids on the illegal shops \u201cridiculous.\u201d Ottawa police have raided 14 dispensaries since November, arresting 29 people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re going to be legalizing it. I don\u2019t understand why they are wasting so much money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cannabis activists such as she aren\u2019t willing to wait any longer, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to keep people away from their medication, or their recreational use. I believe I\u2019m doing something that\u2019s helping people, even if at the end of the day I\u2019m in handcuffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Canada moves to legalize pot, a key question will be the fate of the dispensaries that have popped up in some major cities.Vancouver, Victoria, Ottawa, Hamilton and Toronto have the most shops.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s widely expected the federal government will license and control the production of marijuana, but give provinces the power to decide where it will be sold, as recommended by a federal task force that studied the issue.<\/p>\n
The task force recommended that provinces work in \u201cclose collaboration\u201d with municipalities. That will be especially important if storefront sales are allowed, as the task force recommends.<\/p>\n
The City of Ottawa should start getting ready now, says Counc. Riley Brockington.<\/p>\n
Brockington, who is vice-chair of the city\u2019s community and protective services committee, says he will try to get the issue added to the bylaw department\u2019s packed work schedule.<\/p>\n
Brockington first consulted bylaw staff last fall after a dispensary opened in his ward across from a Montessori school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe position of the (legal) office is that you can\u2019t regulate something that is illegal. You can\u2019t say, \u2018Oh yes, you\u2019re illegal, but since you\u2019re going to be open anyway, we\u2019re going to determine where you are permitted.\u2019 Because the answer right now is you aren\u2019t permitted to be located anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the city can start consulting with the community and with businesses interesting in selling marijuana, says Brockington.<\/p>\n
Vancouver, Victoria and several smaller cities in B.C. have regulated illegal dispensaries. In Vancouver, which pioneered the idea, for-profit dispensaries pay a $30,000 business licence and have restrictions on their location and operation.<\/p>\n
Brockington says he\u2019d like to see Ottawa adopt similar regulations once pot is legal. \u201cI definitely want us to be prepared and ready well before July 1 of 2018. That\u2019s not the date to start having the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ottawa Counc. Mathieu Flery, who has expressed concerns about Montreal Road in his ward turning into pot shop alley, says the city won\u2019t be able to do much until the federal government sets the regulatory framework.<\/p>\n
He expects Ontario might decide to distribute marijuana at stand-alone stores similar to the LCBO. \u201cIt\u2019s a controlled substance, so why would they approach it in a different way?\u201d<\/p>\n
Fleury would support the idea of Marijuana Control Board outlets, saying they would be easier for cities to regulate than privately owned shops. If there was a problem with a store, there would be a central contact, rather than having to deal with many individual owners, he said.<\/p>\n
BY JACQUIE MILLER<\/p>\n
Source:\u00a0ottawasun.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"