Article content

The fix is in and it’s only a matter of time until the city’s marijuana dispensaries are forced out of business by the new pusher in town — the Ontario government.

New legislation unveiled last week — as the province prepares to open 150 marijuana stores run by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario — includes hefty fines and jail time for selling weed illegally once the federal government legalizes cannabis in July 2018.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Liberals pushing out pot shops to become province's lone pusher Back to video

The message has left pot shop owners and employees — who have been the tip of the spear in the legalization fight — acutely aware their days of selling from a storefront are numbered.

Photo by Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun

“I believe in what I’m doing and I’ll keep fighting as long as I can, but I think this will eventually push us all out business,” a dispensary owner, who asked not to be identified, told the Toronto Sun.

Although he knows it’s inevitable cops will shut him down, he’d like to keep his lucrative business going as long as possible. And he was concerned speaking out publicly might get his pot shops targeted sooner rather than later.