Downtown landlord charged in pot raids now eyes legal marijuana retailer
An Ontario pot lottery winner wants to open a cannabis retailer in a downtown space whose landlord was charged for housing an illegal dispensary in an adjacent storefront that was raided by London police.
This is the third cannabis retailer proposed for London when the bricks-and-mortar businesses begin opening next month.
Ranjit Basra submitted an application on Tuesday to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, the province’s pot regulator, to open a recreational marijuana retailer called J. London at 691 Richmond St., suite 5, in the heart of downtown’s Richmond Row.
The ground-floor unit is adjacent to the former home of the London Relief Centre, an illegal pot shop that served anyone over the age of 19, until the business closed its doors following repeated police raids – one of them resulting in a charge against its landlord.
Police raided the Relief Centre three times since it opened in defiance of the law in September 2017. The business was also robbed at least twice.
The dispensary’s landlord, an Ontario numbered company, was charged with permitting a premise to be used for the sale or distribution of cannabis following a joint operation by the OPP and London police on Nov. 20, 2018.
The charge was withdrawn on Feb. 4, court records show.
The numbered company is the landlord for the entire building, tenants say.
A locked gate was placed over the entrance and the operators didn’t reopen after the most recent crackdown on Dec. 13, 2018.
The province had said black market dispensaries would be able to apply for retail licences if they closed their doors by Oct. 17, 2018, when Canada legalized recreational pot. But none of the illegal pot shops in London, including the Relief Centre, complied with the offer.
The AGCO held a lottery in January to select 25 winners given a shot at applying for the first 25 cannabis retail licences. Seven of those licences are allocated in the west region, an area stretching from Windsor to Waterloo to Niagara.
Three of the west region’s winners have now applied to open stores in London.
Canopy Growth, a licensed marijuana producer based in Smiths Falls, announced a pending deal last month with Quebec-based Couche-Tard, operator of 15,000 variety stores worldwide under the Circle K and other banners, to enter a licence agreement with an Ontario numbered company planning to open an outlet in a commercial plaza at 1025 Wellington Rd.
In January, Christopher Comrie applied to the commission to open one in the former Oarhouse restaurant at 666 Wonderland Rd. N. near London’s Oakridge neighbourhood.
EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the store was proposed for the same space as the London Relief Centre. The Free Press regrets the error.