Saugeen pot shops springing up to meet marijuana demand

Justin Ritchie quit commercial fishing last year and now is in the pot shop business at Saugeen First Nation.

When the whitefish grew scarce, due largely he said to clearer and thus warmer water closer to shore caused by zebra mussels, he moved to fishing perch. When someone stole the motor on his small fishing boat, he stopped fishing.

He said the legalization of cannabis in Canada nearly two years ago left a “grey” area which recognizes the right of reserves to control their own marijuana sales.

It has opened up new possibilities for economic development on the reserve, Ritchie said, estimating it may employ 20 people at Saugeen, plus construction jobs, in a community he described as stagnant economically.