​Toronto’s Weed Dispensary Crackdown Has Begun

A Toronto bylaw officer visited one the city's medical marijuana dispensaries Wednesday, just days after Mayor John Tory called for a municipal crackdown.

Tania Cyalume, owner of Queens of Cannabis, located near Bloor Street and Ossington Avenue, told VICE the officer wanted to speak to the landlord about a zoning infraction.

"We are under no obligation to give that info," Cyalume told VICE.

After visiting a Kensington Market dispensary, Tory last week wrote a letter to the city's licensing committee asking for suggestions as to how Toronto might go about regulating the 140 or so dispensaries that have cropped up.

"In the meantime, I would ask that you employ, in conjunction with the Toronto Police Service, whatever enforcement mechanisms are currently available to you to address the health and safety concerns of neighbours and businesses in the communities where these marijuana dispensaries are currently operating unlawfully." he said.

Mark Sraga, the city's director of investigation services, told the Globe and Mail convictions for violating zoning bylaws could be as much as $50,000.

Kind Supply, the Kensington Market dispensary Tory visited, has since shut its doors.

"We support socially responsible and ethical business practices, we look forward to participating in a regulated industry where patients needs come first," the shop's management said in a note posted online.

The federal government has promised to roll out plans for marijuana legalization next spring, but in the meantime, dispensaries are operating in a grey market and are still technically illegal. Vancouver is currently in the process of regulating its pot shops, and issued its first ever business licence to one of them yesterday. Bylaw officers there are issuing $250 fines to dispensaries who are operating illegally.

Other cities like Victoria are looking to follow suit with respect to regulation.

Meantime, licensed producers in the cannabis industry have officially launched a lobby group called Cannabis Canada.

Follow Manisha Krishnan on Twitter.