In the midst of an escalating citywide crackdown on illegal pot dispensaries, cannabis users are ordering and picking up their weed on the sidewalk.Last week, police and the city’s bylaw officers placed massive concrete blocks in front of the entrances of four stores run under the banner of Cannabis and Fine Edibles, or CAFE, as part of an ongoing effort to crack down on illegal marijuana outlets. Recreational cannabis can be legally purchased only from one of the province’s licensed retail shops or online at the government-owned Ontario Cannabis Store. On Saturday, pot users were seen lining up on the sidewalk in front of the CAFE location on Harbord St., placing their orders with unknown individuals, who used hand-held tablets for the transactions, as others waited for pickups. “The government’s rules are ridiculous,” said one young customer in his 20s, who would only give his name as “Smoky” after placing a half-ounce order of weed. “The quality of the legal pot is crap and they charge way too much money for it.”Another man taking orders at the makeshift operation on Harbord St., who refused to give his name, maintained that marijuana is legal in Canada and criticized overzealous enforcement efforts to control the sale of the substance.“They should stop harassing us and putting up these cement blocks. Pot is legal in Canada. There are rapists, murderers and criminals in the city. They should go after them and mind those businesses,” said the man.Since marijuana was legalized last October, the city has stepped up its efforts to clamp down on illegal operators, with the number dropping from nearly 40 to approximately 10. Last week, law enforcement officials erected the concrete blocks in front of entrances at four CAFE shops across the city to physically bar people from accessing the premises. On Thursday, the barriers were removed at the 104 Harbord St. location, west of Spadina Ave., and the sh ...
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