TORONTO

They line up to see God at this dimly-lit emporium in the Church and Wellesley area — and then they go home and smoke it.

Before opening at 11 a.m., Toronto Dispensary operations manager Marina gingerly reaches into a safe and pulls out more than a dozen glass canisters filled with different types of green bud, mainly imported from British Columbia.

Each jar contains different strains of marijuana with funky names — LA Chocolate, Chemo, Purple Paralysis and, of course, the earthy-smelling God — and she places them in glass cabinets that her customers can peruse before purchasing.

The price for a gram is about $10 — or $225 for an ounce.

But before you head down to pick up some ounces of God, you should know the rules around dispensaries are hazy at best. While these dispensaries are acting as a weed pharmacy, they’re doing so illegally, according to Health Canada, Toronto Police and the City of Toronto.

Right now, only licensed producers authorized by Health Canada — just 15 in Ontario and 27 across the country — are allowed to sell pot through the mail to those with verified prescriptions.

But that hasn’t stopped almost 50 dispensaries from setting up shop in Toronto over the last two years. And as the federal Liberals push forward with their plan to legalize pot, those in the industry are confident Toronto will continue to see more dispensaries opening up, joining the ranks of Vancouver as a weed capital of Canada and allowing quicker and easier access to pot for patients battling cancer and other illnesses.

Police say that while “technically” it’s still illegal, dispensaries fall into a grey area and will continue to do so until the federal government legalizes all marijuana.

“We don’t have the resources to walk up and down Yonge St. to see who’s smoking a joint,” a police source told the Sun. “If we get calls for complaints, we would investigate them and lay charges. But that’s what happens when we get into this grey area. We’re not conducting those types of proactive stings like we used to.”

In Kensington Market alone, there at least six dispensaries selling medicinal marijuana within a one-kilometre radius.

Business is buzzing – much to a mix of delight and chagrin to residents and business owners.

Alfonso Segovia of El Gordo Fine Foods in Kensington Market is dismayed by how many of these storefronts have opened and worries how it may affect his business.

“How many sick people are there that there needs to be this many dispensaries?” he said. “You can walk down the street and you can smell it. People have always smoked pot, but not to the extent you see it now. For people who don’t understand or use it, it’s a problem, especially if you have children.”

Anna Kosior, whose mother battled breast cancer using medical marijuana, thinks the opposite.

“Alcohol has been legal for a much longer time,” she said. “(Marijuana) has been extremely stigmatized. My mom was prescribed topical treatments because she wasn’t able to smoke and just seeing the change of her being on chemo to her being on something more natural, it was a beautiful transformation.”

Currently, the City of Toronto maintains it doesn’t have a role in enforcing dispensaries and it’s the police and federal government’s responsibility.

Councillor Joe Cressy, who heads the Toronto Drug Strategy implementation panel, said he has asked the chief medical officer of health to come back with a report in the coming months to address what they can do in the meantime on the municipal level.

Vancouver implemented a bylaw in June to deal with its more than 100 dispensaries. Under Vancouver’s new system, retail pot shops have to pay an annual $30,000 licensing fee and must be at least 300 metres from schools, community centres and other dispensaries or compassion clubs. Many dispensaries in Toronto are using that as a guideline.

Meanwhile, the dispensaries are crying out for regulation.

“Technically, it’s extremely easy for us to be charged,” said Neev Tapiero, director of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries. “Right now, there is very little legal difference between someone selling out of their basement versus a dispensary. The link is incomplete because Health Canada doesn’t recognize marijuana and I don’t see Bill Blair making comments good or bad.

“I’m afraid we’ll be sidelined.”

jenny.yuen@sunmedia.ca