{"id":47547,"date":"2019-09-16T17:52:26","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T17:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/merryjane.com\/an-illegal-pot-store-in-toronto-gave-away-dollar200000-of-free-weed-last-weekend\/"},"modified":"2019-09-16T17:52:26","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T17:52:26","slug":"an-illegal-pot-store-in-toronto-gave-away-dollar200000-of-free-weed-last-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/merryjane.com\/news\/an-illegal-pot-store-in-toronto-gave-away-dollar200000-of-free-weed-last-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"An Illegal Pot Store in Toronto Gave Away $200,000 of Free Weed Last Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canadian police have gone to great lengths to shut down dozens of illegal cannabis stores all across Toronto \u2014 even going as far as barricading them with concrete blocks<\/u><\/a> \u2014 but these illicit enterprises always seem to bounce right back into the game.<\/p>\n

This weekend, two of the city’s remaining unlicensed stores, Weedora and Cannabis & Coffee, began offering customers $100 vouchers for free weed starting at \u201chigh noon\u201d on Saturday. In total, the businesses promised to hand out $200,000 worth of free pot.<\/p>\n

Chris James, owner of these shops, told <\/u>CBC News<\/em><\/u><\/a> that his goal was not just to advertise his business, but also to draw attention to the plight of unlicensed pot shops like his own. James decided to get into the weed business last year, when newly elected Premier Doug Ford decided to allow private weed stores<\/u><\/a> to coexist with government-operated weed retailers.<\/p>\n

Initially, the Ford administration announced that any private business that passed the application process would be allowed to open their own pot shop. Hundreds of entrepreneurs rushed to make serious investments in buying and building out retail spaces that would comply with the province’s strict adult-use retail regulations. But in January, the government announced they were limiting the total number of licenses to 25<\/u><\/a>, and awarding these licenses via a lottery<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

This sudden change of plan left hundreds of entrepreneurs unable to open the businesses they had started building. Faced with extreme financial losses, James and many of his fellows chose to open their doors without a license. “We keep hearing about a supply shortage [and] that’s why there’s no more stores being opened,\u201d James told <\/u>CBC News<\/em><\/u><\/a>. \u201cIf there’s a supply shortage, there’s thousands of growers that the government authorized to be medical growers that should be allowed to grow for recreational people as well.”<\/p>\n

Gallery \u2014 Legalization Day Canada:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n