Anger after Toronto police raid dozens of marijuana shops

Canadian marijuana users have decried recent raids on dozens of Toronto shops that sell the drug,

calling the operation a waste of police resources.

Medical marijuana is legal in Canada, but only licensed providers can sell it to people who have a doctor's approval.

Police raided 43 Toronto shops on Thursday and made 90 arrests.

Raids come just as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal Government is poised to make marijuana

legal to recreational users.

Protesters gathered outside police headquarters on Friday, calling the medical marijuana dispensaries essential.

People held signs reading "Save Our Dispensaries" and "Bad Laws, Bad Cops".


Toronto police chief Mark Saunders was shouted down by protesters as he held a news conference addressing the storefront raids on Friday.

The crackdown was on stores that police believe are selling marijuana to recreational users.

There are 83 known unlicensed marijuana dispensaries in Toronto.

He said the raids, which collected 269 kilograms of dried marijuana and many edibles such as cookies

and candies, came in response to "significant complaints" from community members.

The stores had been selling marijuana products with "inaccurate information" about the amount of THC

they contain, he said, calling it a "genuine health concern".

"It's a danger that you don't know where the [marijuana] is coming from," he said.


Marijuana dispensaries are in nebulous legal territory because while medical marijuana is legal across

Canada, authorities say only sellers licensed by Health Canada, which distribute products via mail, are legal.

"Knowingly selling without a license issued by Health Canada is unlawful, you can't be doing it,"

said Mr Saunders.

Mr Trudeau made marijuana legalisation a key campaign issue and the Canadian government has

said it will introduce legislation next year that would make the sale of marijuana legal.

If marijuana made legal in Canada, it would become one of the largest Western countries to allow

widespread use of the drug.

Protesters shouted to Mr Saunders questioning the raid considering the likelihood that marijuana

will become legal.

Another protester shouted "Where are the victims?" and said the current medical marijuana programme

was set up under Stephen Harper's Conservative government and cannot meet the demands of medical

marijuana users across Canada.

"I don't want to disrupt anyone getting legal access to medical marijuana," said Mr Saunders.

"You keep asking questions, but you don't really want answers."

He said he thinks there is enough medical marijuana supply in the country and

that the raids of the shops were "low-key".


(http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36401175)

RIU I feel could have played a better role in this affair...?

being obviously political and all, but hey I'm outside looking in...?

Significant complaints from community members eh?

Good, then documentation of said complaints should be easy to provide, right?

Complaints were filed, paperwork was too right? If no paperwork on any complaints from community members can be found, remove the chief, he is obviously both dishonest, and unclear about what is and is not legal.

The reason the U.S. cops get away with this kinda shit, is cuz we let them...

Be smart Canada... hold them accountable to their actions and words. Do it right away, before they can claim to have 'lost' the paperwork...

If they are simply using badges to rob medicine from people to uphold personal feelings, call them out! Publicly! Inter-fucking-nationally. Make that shit trend on Facebook, make it a viral video on Youtube....

Exercise your power as The People, while you still have some.... you DON'T want to turn into the crap hole that ur southern neighbor is so rapidly turning into....

AND BOW BEFORE YOUR PRIME MINISTER! Holy balls is that guy great or what!? (I may be bias after seeing so much Trump rhetoric... but Canadian PM, and newest Pope.... fucking great guys IMO....)