Visiting one of the handful of legal cannabis retailers in downtown Toronto didn’t even cross Jesse Cree’s mind when he decided to spend $50 to replenish his depleted baggie of pot.This week he went straight to the Harbord St. location of Cannabis and Fine Edibles (CAFE), an illicit operation that has been his chief supplier of pot for about a year now.“It’s more of a familiarity thing for me,” Cree said of the motivation behind him favouring CAFE. “It’s the place I rely on to get my weed.”Experts say buyers’ continued reliance on illegal operations is a strong signal of their preference for those retailers and their products, and a direct knock on the inferior quality and higher prices found at licensed sellers.Prior to legalization last October, there were more than 90 illegal cannabis storefronts in Toronto, dwindling to 36 soon after legalization. Now fewer than 10 remain, city officials confirmed Wednesday.CAFE’s four Toronto locations have been a target of the city’s clampdown since November, said city spokesperson Lyne Kyle, adding that “since November we’ve issued over 70 charges, not including the ones that were made last week. We’ve barred item a number of times and they have reopened.”Read more: Illegal cannabis dispensary reopens after Toronto walls off entrance with concrete blocksToronto’s crackdown on illegal pot shops has resulted in 41 charges so farComplaints about Ontario Cannabis Store pushed ombudsman’s case load up 30 per cent last yearLast week at the Harbord location, city enforcement officers seized products, laid charges and stacked large concrete blocks in front of the store to physically bar access to it.On Tuesday this week, an illuminated “open” sign sat ironically in front of the blocks, which had “#openmarket” etched across them black spray paint. Seated behind two tables, staff accepted payment from custom ...
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