[URBAN NOTE] "What was really behind the pot shop raids in Toronto?"

[rfmcdonald]

Betsy Powell at the Toronto Star looks at some conspiracy theories behind the marijuana shop raids.

When Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders announced details of last week’s pot shop raids, there were rumblings that Health Canada’s licensed marijuana producers were behind the mass arrests.

“This is about protecting the corporate profits of stock-market businesses who have sent police to arrest people to protect their own financial interest,” Vancouver-based marijuana activist Jodie Emery said, scolding Saunders at his news conference.

Undeniably, some licensed producers who invested tens of millions of dollars to become legitimate players in the medical marijuana market were unhappy that politicians of all levels had done nothing to stop the proliferation of unlicensed dispensaries in Vancouver and Toronto.

The licensed producers, or LPs as they’re known in the pot world, are also competitors of the pot shop entrepreneurs: both are hoping for a piece of post-legalization action once the federal government makes good on its election promise.

But the notion the LPs were behind the raids in Toronto is more conspiracy theory than reality, said Bruce Linton, chair and chief executive officer of Canopy Growth. They are one of 18 federally authorized, mail-order medical marijuana suppliers in Ontario.