Cannabis Countdown

Cannabis will be legal in Canada for recreational use by adults starting at midnight tonight. But what does that mean for all the illegal dispensaries that continue to operate robust businesses throughout many cities, including Hamilton?

Green Relief is a legal supplier of medical cannabis and that won’t change tomorrow, but CEO Warren Bravo says he won’t rule out applying to open a retail store for recreational users when the province opens that option for next April.

Bravo’s aquaponics enterprise uses fish to supply nutrients to cannabis plants. His business is expanding so quickly he’s building another facility behind the first one and also moving into the former Players Paradise indoor soccer complex in Stoney Creek.

Green Relief is also setting up in Australia, California, and several European countries.

Legally grown cannabis follows strict regulations. Black market cannabis can be full of mold, mildew, bad bacterias, even pesticides and other chemicals. It can also be laced with other drugs after its grown, with things like fentanyl.

The alcohol and gaming commission will soon take charge of illegal dispensaries.

“I’m hoping the taxation revenues that are generated by this new industry, the government is going to be able to put into closing these places down. They need to be closed down.” Bravo.

The federal minister in charge, former Toronto police chief Bill Blair, says the legal market will have to compete with the black market in quality, choice access and price.

“We will measure very carefully with our data in order to determine the success we are having in displacing the illicit market. That’s not going to happen on day one, it begins to happen tomorrow.”

The federal government also said that starting tomorrow, it will look at expunging the criminal records of those people who have been found guilty of simple possession of cannabis, or at least speeding up the process of granting pardons for that former crime.