Province Won’t Explain How It Determined There Are 118 Illegal Cannabis Dispensaries in Nova Scotia

Dispensary says province’s cannabis crackdown is ‘fearmongering’

As the province faces backlash on its directive to police agencies to step up enforcement on illegal cannabis dispensaries, it is providing only a vague explanation of how it estimated the number of dispensaries provincewide.

“In early December, an initial assessment estimated that at least 118 brick-and-mortar illegal cannabis stores were operating in Nova Scotia,” a Justice Department spokesperson wrote to CBC News in an email this week.

The timing of the province’s directive to police on Dec. 4 suggests the initial assessment was done shortly before the announcement.

The province originally said in a news release that it had done a “provincial review” to find the 118 illegal outlets.

CBC News requested that review using freedom of information legislation, but the Justice Department responded that no such document exists.

CBC asked the department for a more substantial explanation of how its initial assessment was done, including who did the work, when it was done, the methodology and information sources.

The province responded that the number was based on “standard intelligence” and added,  “focusing here misses the point. It’s about preventing harm, not statistics.”

Provincial law strictly controls the sale of cannabis, which is done through Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation outlets. There are 51 legal cannabis outlets across the province; one is located on a First Nations reserve.

Critics of the province’s announcement have included Mi’kmaw leaders, former attorney general Becky Druhan and academics.

A dispensary owner from Millbrook First Nation told CBC he felt the Mi’kmaq were being targeted with the announcement, although the province’s justice minister stated that was not the case.

“I thought that it definitely wasn’t a public safety crackdown, it was just fearmongering,” said Matthew Cope, the owner of two High Times Station dispensaries in the Halifax area.

Cope said he feels the province’s statements amounted to a “smear campaign” that criminalized First Nations people.

“I was really offended that they used that type of language, because language matters,” he said.

Read the full article at CBC News