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The purpose of the hearing was to lay the “groundwork” for whatever follows at the higher court level, Judge Barry Morgan explained after committing the matter to Court of Queen’s Bench.

Const. Michael Johnson, a member of the Saskatoon city police drug enforcement unit who testified Thursday, said he followed Hauk to a grocery store a month before the dispensary raid.

On Oct. 27, he waited outside the club while another officer purchased marijuana with a fake prescription after being turned away the previous week. The next day, he swore an information to obtain search warrants for Hauk’s home and the compassion club on Second Avenue North.

He then read Hauk and Britnell their charges when the men were arrested during the raid on Oct. 29, 2015.

At the time, Johnson said he was not aware that the club was specifically selling medical marijuana, or that Hauk and Britnell had medical marijuana prescriptions authorizing them to possess a certain amount.

Superintendent David Haye, the second officer to testify, said he did not know how much marijuana a prescription holder could legally possess at one time.

Court heard neither Johnson nor Haye received any training specific to medical marijuana legislation prior to the raid. Both officers also said they were unaware of any public complaints made to police about the dispensary.

Police were investigating marijuana trafficking and no simple possession charges were laid, the Crown clarified during cross-examination. Johnson said he checked with Health Canada to determine that the compassion club did not have a licence to sell medical marijuana.

bmcadam@postmedia.com

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