Cannabis Culture dispensaries permanently closed in Toronto

Marc and Jodie Emery were arrested in March 2017 while they were on their way to Spannabis in Barcelona. Released on bail of 30,000 euros each, the pro-cannabis militants had to abandon their clinics in Toronto and Hamilton.

Activists and entrepreneurs denounce police raids on small dispensaries. According to them, the government is cracking down to favor producers licensed by Health Canada. Jodie Emery states: »We see a government and a business conglomerate putting handcuffs on the pioneers of legalization. They are putting us in cages while they invest in facilities and prepare to sell their own weed.».

She admits to doing business with her stores Cannabis Culture and Funding Activism thanks to this business. «We wanted our place in this industry. We earned it and we deserve it... after 10 years of incarceration and various brushes with the law.».

The Cannabis Culture stores run by Marc and Jodie Emery in Toronto and Hamilton will remain closed. However, the other dispensaries based in Vancouver, Ottawa, Peterborough, and Montreal reopened on April 7th.

Waiting for legalization

Jamie McConnell, manager of one of Toronto's dispensaries, announces that he will continue his activities elsewhere. For him, «cannabis consumers and entrepreneurs must regain control of the market; they know what they want and how they want to consume it. I don't know what the government will do, but I'm not going to stop.»

Andrea Hill, a lawyer at a state-licensed cannabis company, denies any conglomerate of legal cannabis businesses. According to her, the Emery are undergoing these police raids because they are outlaws and they are not the only pioneers of this movement. »They pushed the line too far. A business cannot deviate from the law. People who play by the rules always win in the end, I think it’s a good thing.».

The Canadian government is expected to introduce a bill to legalize cannabis on April 13, 2017, which will come into effect scheduled for July 1, 2018. We will inform you of the details of this law when we have all the information, even if The broad outlines are already known..