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Maple Ridge heading to court over pot shop

Pursuing an injunction in the B.C. Supreme Court to shut down Weeds Glass and Gifts store operation.
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Weeds Glass and Gifts in Maple Ridge received a ticket for operating without a business licence.

Maple Ridge is following Abbotsford's lead and seeking a court injunction to shut down one of the three medicinal marijuana stores in the city.

Friday, Maple Ridge noted that a Supreme Court ruling found Weeds Glass and Gifts in Abbotsford violated a city bylaw by not securing a business licence before opening.

"Maple Ridge is pursuing an injunction in the B.C. Supreme Court to shut down a similar Weeds Glass and Gifts store operation in Maple Ridge," said a news release Thursday.

Late last year, the store received a ticket for operating without a business licence.

In January, Justice Paul Walker found Weeds Glass and Gifts, in Abbotsford, needed a business licence, which it was barred from obtaining, in part, because of a bylaw barring the use of city land to produce or sell marijuana without explicit permission.

“This business was operating without a valid business license and we are pleased that the judge has seen fit to uphold our bylaws in this matter,” Mayor Henry Braun said then. “We expect that the operator of this business will abide by the court’s ruling.”

The store is one of three in Abbotsford operated by Don Briere, who had argued against the order to shut down the business because "enforcing laws based on lies and misconception is a misuse of public funds."

He had cited a Supreme Court of Canada case that ruled medical marijuana should be available in edible forms.

Briere said he would appeal the ruling and continue operations at his three Abbotsford stores.

Medical marijuana is legal in Canada, but the only official distribution channel is through a mail-order process overseen by Health Canada.

“Compassion clubs” and dispensaries like Briere’s are technically illegal, but the laws against them remain unenforced in many communities.

There has been no court rulings yet on Briere's other two Abbotsford marijuana businesses – on George Ferguson Way and South Fraser Way.