Officers with British Columbia’s Community Safety Unit arrived at the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club shortly after it opened on 21 April 2026 and began seizing products, going “through each room, every nook and cranny” in the words of founder Ted Smith.[1] Smith estimated about $100,000 worth of products was seized, carried out of the Quadra Street store in garbage bags and black totes as about a dozen people outside shouted “shame” and one woman called out, “You’re taking our medicine.”[1]
Victoria police attended “to help ensure a safe working area,” the department said, and the provincial Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General confirmed the unit “conducted enforcement” but would not comment on the specific action.[1] The ministry said enforcement is decided case by case and that the unit prioritises public safety, links to organized crime, the integrity of the legal market and the province’s reconciliation commitments.[1]
The club sells cannabis products at higher doses and lower cost than the legal market, which means it cannot be licensed because it breaks Health Canada’s maximum-dose rules, and it serves mostly low-income, chronically ill, disabled, senior and sometimes unhoused members who prove a medical condition but need no prescription, said Jax Kittel, a former manager.[1] The club was fined $3.2 million in 2024 for selling without a licence and has challenged the fine and Health Canada’s medical cannabis rules in court; no hearing date had been set.[1] Smith said he would reopen the next day and expected more raids: “We are being threatened quite clearly.”[1]
StratCann reported the raid as the fourth carried out by the provincial agency, and noted a compliance order from the unit’s deputy director imposing a penalty of more than $3.2 million based on the estimated value of products seized in earlier enforcement.[2]
