Back to Search(Toronto, ON) -The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) has provided recommendations to the Federal and Provincial Governments related to illegal online cannabis sales and the personal production of cannabis for medical purposes designed to ensure that consumers are protected, and to counter organized criminal activity in this area. The recommendations are part of the resolutions that OACP members passed at the association’s 2021 Annual General Meeting that was held in June.
In October 2018, the possession, distribution, and sale of cannabis were legalized, and a system was implemented to regulate and restrict cannabis with a view to providing access to adults and reducing the illegal market and organized crime involvement.
Since legalization, illegal cannabis investigations have shut down almost 100 illegal cannabis storefronts and other production and distribution operations, netting millions of dollars in illegal cannabis bud, plants, edibles, other drugs, and dangerous firearms. As illegal cannabis storefronts closed, illegal operators migrated online. Data indicates that the number of illegal online providers has grown from approximately 800 sites in January 2020 to a high of over 2,600 sites in the first part of 2021. These illegal online sites range from small local operations to sophisticated organized criminal networks operating locally in Ontario, nationally, and internationally.
The OACP has, therefore, made a number of recommendations to address this situation, including for the Government of Ontario to introduce legislative or regulatory provisions under the Cannabis Control Act, 2017 (or other suitable Acts) to allow for a reverse onus to easily remove online cannabis sites not licensed by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and also work with the federal government to introduce federal legislation to better address illegal online cannabis sales and other drug operators.
In relation to cannabis for medical purposes, police services are being challenged by an infiltration of criminal activity using loopholes within Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulation (ACMPR), 2016 Part Two licences and Cannabis Regulations Part 14 Authorizations. In order to ensure the safety of consumers, Ontario’s police leaders are urging the Government of Canada to make regulatory changes, specifically the repeal of ACMPR Part Two licenses and the Cannabis Regulations Part 14 Authorizations.
The full resolution is available here.
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