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Despite some communities taking action against illegal retail cannabis stores, many stores will continue to operate following Canada’s date of legalization.
The head of Canada’s police chiefs has confirmed that there won’t be swift crackdowns on illegal pot shops or craft cannabis growers come Wednesday, Oct. 17.
“I find it highly unlikely that anybody is going to be doing a big crackdown on Day 1,” said the president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, Chief Const. Adam Palmer.
“Oct. 17 is going to come and then Oct. 18 and then Oct. 19, and you’re probably not going to see a whole big change with regard to what the police are doing or what anybody else is doing.”
Enforcement against unlicensed marijuana stores will primarily fall to provinces, which are using inspectors to levy fines as they do with illegal liquor sellers.
Many illegal retail stores have already closed and started to revamp business with the goal of receiving a legal provincial sales license.
Vancouver marijuana retailer Eggs Canna has slashed prices by 10 to 50% to sell off its illegal stock.
Its four stores will close at the end of the day Wednesday and won’t reopen until they hold licences, say company executives.
According to the Chief of Police, officers will be cracking down on illegal stores and grow operations with organized crime connections.
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