As an agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration for nearly 30 years, Matt Murphy was involved with crackdowns on all types of drug trafficking. But his major focus after he became chief of pharmaceutical investigations was going after rogue online pharmacies fueled by doctors signing fake prescriptions.
Two takedowns dubbed Operation Lightning Strike and Operation Baywatch are among his proudest achievements for dismantling at least 10 illegal online pharmacies and arresting two physicians.
“That wasn’t legitimate medicine,” Murphy told VICE News in an interview from Boston, where he retired from the DEA in 2011. In retirement, he’s turned his sights toward the world of legalized cannabis, a substance he always saw as just another illegal drug to be stomped out, but one he says he now considers healing and therapeutic.
“My whole mindset and culture had been that marijuana is illegal, but I never questioned why,” he said. “I’ve now seen the opioid epidemic spiral out of control. It definitely minimizes any risks that I can think of when it comes to marijuana as medicine.”
Toronto Police load cruiser with seized cannabis products after a raid. Photo via Daily VICE.
Murphy is now a compliance advisor for Khiron Life Sciences Corp., a Toronto-based medical marijuana company operating in Colombia with one of the first cultivation licenses granted by Colombia’s government after it legalized prescription weed in 2015. He’s said he’s drawn to Canadian businesses because it’s been successful so far with regulating cannabis. “It seems like it’s running smoothly” and there’s no sign that the U.S. federal government will follow its northern neighbour anytime soon when it comes to such drug policies, he said.
Many former DEA colleagues who spent their careers busting high-level cannabis traffickers didn’t necessarily approve of his move to Big Weed, but with many American states and countries around the world legalizing the drug for any use, Murphy says the expertise of former law enforcement officials like himself aligns with the ambitions of the highly lucrative industry that’s still in its infancy. It’s a perfect match. And countless former cops around the world are also cashing in on helping navigate these businesses through complicated regulations and security requirements, while giving their reputations a boost.
“It takes it from the perception of a bunch of cowboys growing weed in a field to a legitimate business that attracts legitimate investors,” said Murphy.
In Canada, home to the world’s biggest medical cannabis companies and what’s expected to become the biggest recreational market when it becomes legal this summer, cops and politicians becoming leaders in the cannabis industry has sparked fierce debate in recent months and accusations of profiteering and conflicts of interest. The rollout of the federal legislation is being spearheaded by former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, who’s now a Liberal MP and parliamentary secretary to the justice minister.
The list keeps growing and includes a number of former city and federal police chiefs, undercover drug cops, and Conservative politicians who were staunch opponents of the drug for any purpose.
And for some industry experts, these strange bedfellows raises questions about who gets favoured in legitimate cannabis spaces, and who will continue to be relegated to, and thrive in, the black market once the recreational system comes into effect.
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Perhaps one of the most glaring examples is the new medical cannabis clinic Aleafia in Vaughan, Ontario launched by former Toronto Police chief Julian Fantino and ex-RCMP deputy commissioner and former undercover drug cop Raf Souccar. Fantino is its executive chair while Souccar is the president and CEO.
During his tenure as police chief of Canada’s biggest city in the early 2000s, Fantino was notoriously anti-weed, going so far as to compare legalizing the drug to legalizing murder.
In 2015, Fantino, then Conservative MP for Vaughan, told the Toronto Sun: “I see legalizing it or putting it in shops as trying to normalize narcotics, when the truth is there is nothing normal about it. It’s a mind-altering drug that causes impairments and like cigarettes is not healthy.”
But Fantino seems to have done a complete 180 since then, recently telling the CBC’s Carol Off that while he has never tried marijuana in his life, he’s now convinced of its medicinal benefits for patients suffering all sorts of ailments. “You can frame it anyway you want, but you will never be able to take away my integrity with respect to what I’m doing now and what I’ve done in the past,” Fantino urged.
His company did not respond to requests from VICE News for an interview.
While a change of heart by anyone who goes from anti-weed to embracing the drug is welcomed by cannabis advocates and researchers who work to fight the stigma around it, the thought of cops working with weed businesses doesn’t sit well with experts who have been urging the Canadian government to create programs to encourage black market cannabis businesses to transition to legal ones. So far, there are no such initiatives at the federal level, though some provinces are opening retail applications to small businesses. It’s unclear if business owners and employees will be required to clear criminal background checks like they do when applying to work for companies with licenses to produce cannabis by Health Canada.
Two takedowns dubbed Operation Lightning Strike and Operation Baywatch are among his proudest achievements for dismantling at least 10 illegal online pharmacies and arresting two physicians.
“That wasn’t legitimate medicine,” Murphy told VICE News in an interview from Boston, where he retired from the DEA in 2011. In retirement, he’s turned his sights toward the world of legalized cannabis, a substance he always saw as just another illegal drug to be stomped out, but one he says he now considers healing and therapeutic.
“My whole mindset and culture had been that marijuana is illegal, but I never questioned why,” he said. “I’ve now seen the opioid epidemic spiral out of control. It definitely minimizes any risks that I can think of when it comes to marijuana as medicine.”
Toronto Police load cruiser with seized cannabis products after a raid. Photo via Daily VICE.
Murphy is now a compliance advisor for Khiron Life Sciences Corp., a Toronto-based medical marijuana company operating in Colombia with one of the first cultivation licenses granted by Colombia’s government after it legalized prescription weed in 2015. He’s said he’s drawn to Canadian businesses because it’s been successful so far with regulating cannabis. “It seems like it’s running smoothly” and there’s no sign that the U.S. federal government will follow its northern neighbour anytime soon when it comes to such drug policies, he said.
Many former DEA colleagues who spent their careers busting high-level cannabis traffickers didn’t necessarily approve of his move to Big Weed, but with many American states and countries around the world legalizing the drug for any use, Murphy says the expertise of former law enforcement officials like himself aligns with the ambitions of the highly lucrative industry that’s still in its infancy. It’s a perfect match. And countless former cops around the world are also cashing in on helping navigate these businesses through complicated regulations and security requirements, while giving their reputations a boost.
“It takes it from the perception of a bunch of cowboys growing weed in a field to a legitimate business that attracts legitimate investors,” said Murphy.
In Canada, home to the world’s biggest medical cannabis companies and what’s expected to become the biggest recreational market when it becomes legal this summer, cops and politicians becoming leaders in the cannabis industry has sparked fierce debate in recent months and accusations of profiteering and conflicts of interest. The rollout of the federal legislation is being spearheaded by former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, who’s now a Liberal MP and parliamentary secretary to the justice minister.
The list keeps growing and includes a number of former city and federal police chiefs, undercover drug cops, and Conservative politicians who were staunch opponents of the drug for any purpose.
And for some industry experts, these strange bedfellows raises questions about who gets favoured in legitimate cannabis spaces, and who will continue to be relegated to, and thrive in, the black market once the recreational system comes into effect.
--
Perhaps one of the most glaring examples is the new medical cannabis clinic Aleafia in Vaughan, Ontario launched by former Toronto Police chief Julian Fantino and ex-RCMP deputy commissioner and former undercover drug cop Raf Souccar. Fantino is its executive chair while Souccar is the president and CEO.
During his tenure as police chief of Canada’s biggest city in the early 2000s, Fantino was notoriously anti-weed, going so far as to compare legalizing the drug to legalizing murder.
In 2015, Fantino, then Conservative MP for Vaughan, told the Toronto Sun: “I see legalizing it or putting it in shops as trying to normalize narcotics, when the truth is there is nothing normal about it. It’s a mind-altering drug that causes impairments and like cigarettes is not healthy.”
But Fantino seems to have done a complete 180 since then, recently telling the CBC’s Carol Off that while he has never tried marijuana in his life, he’s now convinced of its medicinal benefits for patients suffering all sorts of ailments. “You can frame it anyway you want, but you will never be able to take away my integrity with respect to what I’m doing now and what I’ve done in the past,” Fantino urged.
His company did not respond to requests from VICE News for an interview.
While a change of heart by anyone who goes from anti-weed to embracing the drug is welcomed by cannabis advocates and researchers who work to fight the stigma around it, the thought of cops working with weed businesses doesn’t sit well with experts who have been urging the Canadian government to create programs to encourage black market cannabis businesses to transition to legal ones. So far, there are no such initiatives at the federal level, though some provinces are opening retail applications to small businesses. It’s unclear if business owners and employees will be required to clear criminal background checks like they do when applying to work for companies with licenses to produce cannabis by Health Canada.
