One of the 52 marijuana dispensaries still operating in the city appears poised to reopen despite being raided by police four times recently, angering area residents in Weston Road and Jane Street area.
The dispensary, at 1608 Weston Road, recently put up its sign again, signifying that it could soon be open for business.
Area resident, Trevor Comer, says customers are swarming through their neighborhood, causing problems.
Residents have complained of customers urinating in public, climbing through backyards, doing drugs in a nearby park and leaving drug baggies and other paraphernalia scattered all over.
“[When it closed] The whole neighborhood raised a cheer,” Comer said. “I think licensing has to step up.”
Councilor Frances Nunziata says she is as frustrated as the neighbors. She joined police for the last raid a month ago and she says she was stunned when she went in.
“I was so nauseous,” she says. “I have never smoked marijuana but it made me so sick.
“They keep getting arrested, the judge grants them bail and it’s a revolving door,” she added. “But they keep reopening because they make a lot of money. They don’t care because they make so much money they couldn’t care less (about) the fines.”
She says the city has charged the owners both through bylaws and criminally, but the punishments and fines are minimal and profits large and she says the courts do little to derail them.
She says the federal government needs to provide financial help so municipalities and cities can effectively enforce the law.
“I really don’t know what the solution is,” she adds. “It’s really going to be a problem throughout the city. Unless the judge and the court puts them actually in jail, they are going to continually reopen.”
