Police raid Cannabis Culture dispensary in east end

By News Staff

Police seized two bags of marijuana and were seen prying open a black box with crowbars at a Cannabis Culture dispensary on Wednesday afternoon

Earlier, they had told CityNews they would be raiding the pot shop on Queen Street East, at Broadview Avenue. There was no police presence at the locations on King Street West and Church Street.

Earlier this month, police arrested Marc and Jody Emery — the owners of the Cannabis Culture brand — and raided a number of Cannabis Culture dispensaries across Canada.

The Emerys were charged with several offences — including conspiracy, trafficking and possession charges — and Toronto police claimed their pot shops were tied to organized crime.

Last May, Toronto police arrested 90 people and laid 186 drug trafficking charges as part of Project Claudia, which targeted 43 marijuana dispensaries across the city.

The raids did little to deter the dispensaries. Many reopened shortly after and some charges were tossed in court, leading lawyer Selwyn Pieters to call the police action a “colossal waste of private and public resources.”

Dispensaries have also been frequent robbery targets over the last few months. Several shops have been held up, often at gunpoint, and in some instances shots were fired.

Police said their investigations into those hold ups were being hampered due to lack of cooperation from dispensary employees and owners.

With files from The Canadian Press


Related stories:

Police claim Cannabis Culture dispensaries possibly tied to organized crime

By the numbers: Toronto pot shops charged and fined

Cannabis Culture pot shops raided across Canada, Marc and Jodie Emery arrested


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