Saskatoon police say Canna-World marijuana dispensary raid not signal of larger crackdown

Saskatoon police say a raid Tuesday on a Canna-Worldmedical marijuana dispensary does not signal a larger crackdown on local unauthorized dispensaries.

Police Supt. Dave Haye says it's all about priorities, and police have more pressing concerns these days than how patients get medical marijuana.

"When we're dealing with drugs like fentanyl, which is responsible for deaths, and drugs like crystal meth, which is responsible for a lot of our property crime increasewe have to make priorities," he said.

"So dealing with the unauthorized cannabis outlets hasn't been a priority at the momentnot to say that we've ignored them."

TheCanna-Worldraid began with a break-in report.

A member of the public contacted police Tuesday morning after it appeared someone had broken into the dispensary, which was run from a two-storey house on Third Avenue North.

Officers arrived and went inside to make sure no one was hurt. There, they observed jars full of marijuana and a display case full of derivatives.

They contacted Health Canada and a prosecutor, and then got a search warrant. They eventually seized more than a kilogram of marijuana, $400 cash and more than 300 derivatives such as hashish, lollipops, chocolate and gummy bears.

Well aware of unauthorized outlets: police

Haye says police are well aware of the unauthorized outlets in the city.

Police are hoping the outlets will voluntarily comply with the laws. Butin the interim, they're willing let them be unless someone complains, or they somehow attract the attention of police.

Haye doesn't believe the dispensaries will vanish when marijuana is legalized, so he said there would time down the road to launch investigations if warranted.

Canna-World also operated an outlet on 20th Street West. It closed within hours of the raid on the Third Avenue location.

Police are still trying to figure out who owned and operated the Canna-World outlet.

Chris Jordan is a managing partner with the Best Bud Society, which has a medical marijuana dispensary downtown.

He doesn't think police are cracking down on all dispensaries.

"I didn't think it was a raid by the police, a planned raid. I didn't think it was part of an investigation," he said.

"I would feel really bad for patients if the police were to come in at this point in time and maliciously shut us down."