[URBAN NOTE] "Toronto Might As Well Be Mars When It Comes To Storefront Weed"

[rfmcdonald]

NOW Toronto's Miles Kenyon reports on storefront marijuana's many, many problems in Toronto.

Raymond Hathaway, a Toronto paralegal who is suing the city for $1 million for interfering with his access to medical marijuana as a result of police raids on dispensaries back in May, doesn’t mince words.

"The raids are grand theft, destruction of property, and, from a patient perspective, criminal harassment on the basis of disability," Hathaway says, eliciting applause from dozens of members of the public gathered in a committee room at City Hall Monday, July 25, to spark discussion on the future of marijuana dispensaries in Toronto.

Hathaway’s lawsuit centres around his inability to access Rick Simpson Oil, a cannabis extract that is currently not available through any of Canada’s 34 Licensed Producers of medical marijuana. This, he argues in his lawsuit, constitutes a violation of his human rights.

“Dispensaries are not in a grey area and are not illegal,” he says, pointing to several court cases supporting patient access to medical marijuana, including R. v. Parker, a 2000 Ontario Court of Appeal decision that found prohibiting cannabis use was unconstitutional because some illnesses require it for treatment.

The city’s Licensing and Standards Committee voted June 27 to defer a discussion on the licensing of dispensaries until provincial and federal legislation has been passed on the matter.