Former Cop Now Working for Legal Grow-op Tells Bill Blair To Get Rid of ‘Goons’ in the Industry

Imagine a world where all your legal weed was controlled by ex-cops. It's not that big of a stretch, in Canada anyway.

Earlier this week, former Toronto police chief turned Liberal MP Bill Blair confirmed he'll be handling the pot file for his government, raising skepticism about how someone who previously enforced prohibition and seemed to show disregard for civil liberties (G20, cough cough) would approach this task.

While the specifics of his plan are still hazy, Blair has already said the legalization rollout will be tightly controlled.

"Our intent is to legalize, regulate and restrict," he told the Globe and Mail. "There needs to be reasonable restrictions on making sure that we keep it away from kids, because I think that is very much in the public interest. We also have to ensure that the social and the health harms are properly managed and mitigated."

Blair was likely given this role in part to appease his former colleagues e.g. cops who aren't down with legalization. One of them, former Toronto police deputy chief Kim Derry, who's now—surprise—a consultant at a medical pot facility currently seeking a license from Health Canada, has already been pretty vocal about the direction he thinks Blair should move in.

"If you just open it up and allow everybody to grow this stuff and distribute it however they want, it will be an absolute mess," he told the Globe, adding Blair needs to "get rid of the goons" in the industry aka the people who, you know, fought at risk of receiving criminal records to make legalization happen.

He appears to be advocating for growing be limited to licensed producers like THC Meds—the Toronto-area company that writes his paycheques. Derry teamed up with former Toronto mayoral candidate George Smitherman to launch the business and serves as its security advisor.

He said he and Blair have been buds for 40 years, "so I'll certainly give him my opinion, whether he asks for it or not."

Blair said he's not going to be answering to anyone in particular though.

"There is a wide diversity of opinion, and it's important that those opinions be heard, but I'm not responding to any particular lobbyist or individual on this."

Because no lobbyist has ever influenced government decision-making, right?

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