Cannabis Life Network host Alana Kindree visited the Lift Expo in May and spoke with Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries president Dieter MacPherson about the Toronto dispensary community.
“The police were the wrong tool for the job,” said MacPherson. “As far as I know this was the single largest execution of raids or warrants in Canadian history, so it’s very disproportionate.”
In May, authorities carried out “Project Claudia,” where dozens of dispensaries were targeted by authorities, resulting in 90 arrests and 186 charges laid. A month later a further four dispensaries were raided and another 23 people arrested.
“It’s going to criminalize a lot of otherwise well meaning individuals in Toronto and it reduces access for patients in Toronto as well,” said the CAMCD president. “It’s a massive waste of tax payer dollars.”
MacPherson said police and municipal officials need to look at other districts in the country, like Victoria or Vancouver, for example of city’s allowing dispensaries to operate without constant threat of raid.
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