Marijuana dispensary owner charged with trafficking, released

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This article was published 05/08/2015 (3709 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The owner of Winnipeg’s sole medical-marijuana dispensary faces drug-trafficking charges after police arrested him and shut down his business Tuesday.

Glenn Allan Price, 54, was arrested at his unlicensed Main Street dispensary and is charged with drug trafficking and possession offences, as well as possession of the proceeds of crime after police issued two search warrants at his home and business. He was released from custody.

The Winnipeg Police Service said the dispensary was an illegal drug-trafficking business, from which they seized two pounds of the drug. Officers seized two ounces of marijuana from the accused’s residence above his storefront in the 1400 block of Main Street, police said.

Price didn’t have a licence to operate the dispensary, and there is no indication he had a medical-marijuana licence for personal use, police said.

The City of Vancouver licenses and regulates medical-marijuana dispensaries, but that isn’t the case in Winnipeg, so police here must investigate unlicensed dispensaries as illegal drug operations, said Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Rob Carver.

“I certainly wouldn’t say it’s tricky in Winnipeg. I think at the moment, this is a very straightforward situation. Unless the business has followed the proper protocol to establish (itself) as a qualified distributor, then we have no choice but to view it as selling illegal drugs,” Carver said.

“There are detailed procedures about what’s involved in certifying a business to be able to do that. None of that was done. That raises safety concerns. It raises concerns about a complete inability to substantiate the quality of what’s being distributed. It doesn’t meet any of the criteria that have been established. And when those criteria aren’t met, then it’s just the sale of an illegal drug,” he added.

Price was faxing paperwork to his lawyer in Vancouver when he was reached by phone Wednesday. He said he was held for 12 hours without food after police raided his dispensary.

Noting his lawyer cautioned him against speaking publicly, he referred questions to a vocal community advocate for medical marijuana.

That advocate, Steven Stairs, said Price briefed him after police released him at midnight.

“They threw the book at him,” Stairs said.

“It’s overkill. They’re trying to make an example of Glenn, but I honestly don’t think they’ll succeed. We’ll fight this, and we’ll see more dispensaries come. Glenn is not alone.”

Price opened the dispensary at 1404-A Main St. on July 1. Two weeks later, police showed up at the shop and warned Price he risked arrest for filling and selling the prescriptions doctors give patients for pot without having a federal licence.

It’s time Winnipeg regulate medical-marijuana operations, said Mynarski Coun. Ross Eadie.

Eadie said he plans to introduce a motion in September that would see Winnipeg license and regulate medical-marijuana dispensaries the way it does for escort and massage services. The city would have control over where dispensaries are located and could charge municipal fees, he said.

— with files from Alexandra Paul

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com