Second London marijuana shop officially gets green light to open
A second brick-and-mortar marijuana shop could soon be operating in London – this one downtown – after J. London officially received a licence to operate.
The Richmond Row business, owned by Ranjit Basra, had been waiting for its retail store authorization, which has now been issued, according to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, the province’s pot regulator.
Located at 691 Richmond St., the business sits beside a now-vacant space that was home to the London Relief Centre, an illegal pot shop that served anyone older than 19, until it closed in December following repeated police raids.
London’s third cannabis retailer, Tweed, which is owned by an Ontario numbered company and will be located at 1025 Wellington Rd. S., just north of White Oaks Mall, is still awaiting its authorization.
J. London’s green-light comes only days after the debut of brick-and-mortar pot retail stores in Ontario on Monday.
Central Cannabis on Wonderland Road, just north of Oxford Street, was the first pot shop to open its door in London, attracting hundreds of customers who lined up to get in.
Recreational marijuana was legalized by the federal government last fall, but the rollout has been handled differently in each Canadian province. Until Monday, people in Ontario have only been able to legally buy cannabis products online from the government-run Ontario Cannabis Store.
The Monday rollout allowed 25 licensed pot shops across Ontario to officially open, though not all were prepared to open their doors. London is the only city in Southwestern Ontario, a region of 1.5 million, to land any of the 25 operations, which were randomly selected.
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