A cafe owner by the name of James Chris is suing the provincial government after it failed to issue him with a permit to run his much-anticipated marijuana business. The cafe owner claims that he hoped to make big returns out of the cannabis business once it was made legal. It is for this reason that he went on to open the cafe and brand it with marijuana images and different paraphernalia in anticipation of a lucrative business once the legalization was affected. He claims that he had invested a lot of money in marketing and recruiting knowledgeable staff. If issued with the license he hoped to expand and venture into the cannabis business.
However, the provincial government awarded only 25 locations with the license through lottery leaving James out and without a permit to run a legal dispensary. Through his lawyer Daniel Sommers, he has brought a suit of $1.1M against the government. Sommers said that the government was wrong with its issuance and that his client was fit and capable of running a cannabis dispensary. He further stated that his client was knowledgable, creative and had great plans to run the business. If he wins the lawsuit, it will see James pocket $1.1 M as well as the license he is so much seeking.
The staff in the cafe claims that they are always turning away customers who frequent the place in the hope of buying cannabis. Michael Caballero, who is a barista in the cafe said, “it is a very disappointing experience. Every hour we are approached by willing buyers, but all we can do is to tell them that we do not have cannabis at the moment. Actual cannabis is not sold in the shop even though we have done a lot to brand and market ourselves.” “Other than the case before us at the moment, we have other similar cases, and we are trying our best to address them,” said Sommers.
