OPP provincial enforcement team again raids unlicensed cannabis store in London

November 6, 2024 | David Brown

Ontario Provincial Police say they raided an unlicensed cannabis store again in London on October 24, seizing cannabis, cash, and tobacco, charging one.

The store, Spirit River Cannabis at 72 Wellington St., faced enforcement action by OPP in August when a second shop was also closed, seizing more than $350,000 in cannabis products.

Both locations later reopened. The raids were conducted by the OPP’s Provincial Joint Forces Cannabis Enforcement Team (PJFCET). The team was created in 2018 to address the illicit cannabis market in Canada and is made up of officers from across the province.

In the most recent enforcement action, a 36-year-old London man was charged with possessing cannabis for the purpose of selling, possession of illicit cannabis, possession of proceeds of property obtained by crime under $5,000, and trafficking in contraband tobacco. He is scheduled to appear in London court on Nov. 29.

Signage on the Richmond St. store advertised $20 ounces of cannabis.

The store, which claims to be Indigenous-owned, has been operating without a provincial cannabis retail licence or any apparent authorization from any Indigenous organization or Band council in Canada. Attempts by StratCann to contact Spirit River Cannabis for more information were unsuccessful. Under provincial law, a licence from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is required to sell cannabis.

The business has a poster on the building noting sections 25 and 35 of the Canadian Constitution Act. Section 35 of the Constitution Act says that the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada are recognized and affirmed. Section 35 ensures that the designated rights and freedoms of Indigenous peoples are protected.

Some Indigenous store owners and other legal experts have argued that federal and provincial cannabis laws don’t apply to Indigenous-owned cannabis businesses. While the majority of these stores have opened on recognized treaty territory, some have opened on traditional lands outside of those treaty territories. The latter tend to be more likely to face enforcement by police or bylaw officers.