LCBO

WARNING TO MEDICAL CANNABIS USERS!!!! Discrimination bias, very cannabis-unfriendly. If I could give a zero star rating I would. The staff at this location is extremely discriminatory and arrogant toward cannabis users. I am a recipient of medical cannabis for the treatment of severe anxiety disorder and ptsd. Last night, on the way to visit family out of town, I stopped at this location to buy a mere two coolers to enjoy later that night. However, the treatment I was given by the staff at this location is the precise reason why I barely leave my house or attempt to go out in public. Something earlier that day had already triggered my anxiety, AND I commonly get nervous in stores or when talking to people.... so when I went to pay, I accidentally dropped my cards. I felt awkward so I jokingly said "omg Im terrible, I havent even had anything to drink yet" with the obvious punchline being that Im buying alcohol because I did not already have any. She started acting all suspicious and said "HAVE you had anything to drink?" I said "no... sorry. I guess I just assumed everyone could recognize a joke" The clerk made a snobby expression at my remark and decided that because I dropped my cards, defused my anxiety with humour, and smelled like weed, that I was intoxicated. I can barely leave my home without being medicated due to severe anxiety and childhood ptsd, so I tried to explain that I am a medical cannabis user and it is my medicine and stated that I am not intoxicated, I literally had just came from an appointment with my medical cannabis doctor. I showed her my bag of cannabis in my pocket and said "See? this is why I smell... I am on my way to spend a weekend out of town with family." None of that mattered. Even talking to the manager was horrible. I tend to like to try to figure out how to actually solve things I think are problems, so before leaving I asked him, "Do you yourself feel like there's something wrong with this? I understand and support the laws about not selling to intoxicated people but you are discriminating against me because of the particular kind of medication I use to treat my health conditions. Do you not feel someone should do something to prevent this kind of profiling and discrimination?" And he simply smiled cheek to cheek and said "Nope, not one bit." Proudly asserting his bias over me. Smugly looking at me like he's just dying to tell me 'cannabis is a drug not a medicine and you're just a hippy'. News flash, cannabis treats some very real conditions such as Parkinson's, Ptsd, Epilepsy, and many more. Now im not trying to speak for the old man, but he did NOTHING at any point to try to absolve the tension or assure me that he cares about me AT ALL as a customer. Basically, if you walk in this store smelling like weed, dont expect to be served any alcohol. You WILL be treated as a degenerate and you will feel like you just stepped right back into the 70's Nixon era. Let me reiterate one last time. I tried very hard to maintain a respectful mannerism with these staff members. However, the way I was spoken to and the obvious drug bias exhibited sent me into a full blown panic attack after leaving the LCBO. This lasted for 37 minutes before I mentally able to handle being on the highway in a speeding vehicle even after stepping out to vaporize some cannabis several times, and I wasn't even driving. I will NEVER come back here if I have any other options, and if I have to, I will send someone else in. Thanks for all that, when I only wanted to buy 2 coolers to relax around a campfire with my son and family. The fire didnt happen btw, was too anxious to be around people for most of the night after that... I understand that retailers are not responsible for managing my anxiety and usually I do a fair job of that myself, but as a customer, I think its reasonable to expect respectful service that doesn't feel threatening or unfairly discriminatory. If the manager is in any way supportive of those with medical cannabis prescriptions, he avoided every opportunity to make it clear.

Most LCBO workers are entitled snobs but they really take the cake at this location.

Always friendly,

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