Cannabis Life Network visited Green Market Toronto, a weekly event held at the HotBox Cafe in Toronto’s Kensington Market that features some of the best local craft cannabis products.
The event was shut down by the Project Claudia raids carried out by Toronto police, but relaunched in July.
Green Market organizer and Toronto Women Grow chapter chairwoman Lisa Campbell said the event brings together producers and brands in the city to celebrate the innovation in the city.
“Everyone’s been a little bit on edge since the Project Claudia raids, there’s so much product that was seized with a big focus on edibles and a lot of dispensaries took edibles off the shelves completely which is horrible for the local industry,” Campbell said.
Campbell said there’s a need for edibles in the Toronto cannabis market and that patients have a right to access cannabis in all its forms.
Angelina Blessed is a professional athlete who started Blessed Edibles three years ago to find a way to use cannabis without smoking.
“The edibles market was a really lacking a healthier product so I started baking more … vegan, gluten free, something that really fits the dietary needs of an athlete,” Blessed said.
Blessed has all of her products lab tested, properly labelled and made in a commercial kitchen.
“That should be okay, that should be enough,” she said. “But that medication is unable to get to people that truly need it.”
Peter Shearer from Shearer and Dahl said his passion for the cannabis industry has led him to dedicate his life and wants the government to allow him to continue his business under legalization.
“I think us as craft producers that have been in the industry for so long deserve some market access and we’re here just trying to fight for it,” he said.
Organizations like the Cannabis Friendly Business Association and Cannabis Growers of Canada are also fighting to allow craft producers a place in the industry.
Last week, CGC executive director Ian Dawkins spoke to the Toronto cannabis community about how they can fight back against government regulations that are pushing them to the sidelines.