It’s a familiar address both to downtown cannabis enthusiasts and city law enforcement — and it could be home to a legal cannabis retail outlet.
104 Harbord St., located just west of Spadina Ave. and blocks away from the University of Toronto, is the address of one of 13 Toronto-area winners of the latest Alcohol and Gaming Commision of Ontario (AGCO) retail cannabis store lottery — selecting 43 out of nearly 5,000 entrants hoping to apply for provincial permission to enter Ontario’s growing legal retail cannabis market.
That address is also home to a shuttered CAFE Dispensary location — a notorious chain of illegal cannabis shops that have defied efforts by both police and the city to shut them down.
The applicant, listed on the AGCO’s website as 11180673 Canada Inc., has until Aug. 28 to apply to become a licensed cannabis retailer.
Last month, city crews sealed the entrances of four CAFE locations with 2,000-kilogram concrete blocks as part of efforts to finally close down the resilient illicit retailer.
Heavy equipment soon arrived at two of the shuttered CAFE stores — 932 Bloor St. W. and 104 Harbord St.
While police thwarted efforts to remove the blocks on Bloor, employees managed to re-open the Harbord location until the barriers were replaced overnight by city crews.
That prompted staff to set up shop on the sidewalk with iPads and debit machines.
Police responded by laying charges and seizing both weed and retail equipment.
Winning the lottery is no guarantee of a successful application.
104 Harbord St., located just west of Spadina Ave. and blocks away from the University of Toronto, is the address of one of 13 Toronto-area winners of the latest Alcohol and Gaming Commision of Ontario (AGCO) retail cannabis store lottery — selecting 43 out of nearly 5,000 entrants hoping to apply for provincial permission to enter Ontario’s growing legal retail cannabis market.
That address is also home to a shuttered CAFE Dispensary location — a notorious chain of illegal cannabis shops that have defied efforts by both police and the city to shut them down.
The applicant, listed on the AGCO’s website as 11180673 Canada Inc., has until Aug. 28 to apply to become a licensed cannabis retailer.
Last month, city crews sealed the entrances of four CAFE locations with 2,000-kilogram concrete blocks as part of efforts to finally close down the resilient illicit retailer.
Heavy equipment soon arrived at two of the shuttered CAFE stores — 932 Bloor St. W. and 104 Harbord St.
While police thwarted efforts to remove the blocks on Bloor, employees managed to re-open the Harbord location until the barriers were replaced overnight by city crews.
That prompted staff to set up shop on the sidewalk with iPads and debit machines.
Police responded by laying charges and seizing both weed and retail equipment.
Winning the lottery is no guarantee of a successful application.